Peter Rushton & Catherine Donovan 
Austerity Policies [PDF ebook] 
Bad Ideas in Practice

This book takes up the problems of social policy, state intervention and support in the hard times of austerity introduced by the Coalition government 2010-15, and continued under the Conservative government today. At a time when the economy is growing and pay levels finally rising, the necessity for more cuts in public expenditure is fiercely contested. The scope of state services, the levels of support for people in need, and the kinds of organizations that will deliver the services, will all be profoundly affected in coming years. The authors and editors assess some of these consequences visible now in the impact that expenditure cuts and reorganization have had on many areas of social policy, and explore the direction of change in the near future.





Austerity Policies evaluates a wide range of changing form of state services and the transformations involving both the recipients and those delivering the services. It considers the past, presentand future of austerity as a policy, and the problems affecting particular groups such as offenders, looked after children, and professionals such as social care workers and those engaged with domestic violence. The collection will be of interest to students and scholars of social policy, criminology, sociology, politics and media studies. 

Table of Content

1. Introduction; Peter Rushton and Catherine Donovan.- Part One. Austerity: A Break with the Past?.- 2. Austerity: a Critical History of the Present; Peter Rushton.- 3. Austerity and the Undermining of Democracy; Ilona Buchroth and Linda Hetherington.- 4. Mothering in an Age of Austerity; Sheila Quaid.- Part Two.Undermining Professionals.- 5. Austerity and De-Professionalisation; Nigel Malin.- 6. Inspecting ‘Transforming Rehabilitation’: The Pitfalls of an Austerity Managerialist Approach to Offender Supervision; Nicola Roberts.- 7. Poverty, Regulation and New Forms of Educational Exclusion; Kim Gilligan.- Part Three. Some Consequences of Twenty-First Century Austerity. – 8. Cutting the Ribbon? Austerity Measures and the Problems Faced by the HIV Third Sector; Drew Dalton.- 9. “Well That Would Be Nice, but We Can’t do That in the Current Climate”: Prioritising Services Under Austerity; Catherine Donovan and Matt Durey.- 10. Dangerous Times for Looked-After Children: Austerity Cuts Risking the Lives of the Most Vulnerable; Stephanie Hunter.- 11. The ‘New Normal’: Framing Vulnerability, Entitlement and Responsibility in Police Custody in Austere Times; Faye Cosgrove and Donna Peacock. 

About the author

Peter Rushton is Professor of Historical Sociology at the University of Sunderland, and leader of the REF Unit in History for the 2014 research exercise.​




Catherine Donovan is a Professor in Social Relations and is Research Lead in the School of Social Sciences at the University of Sunderland.