Launch of the Handbook on Society and Social Policy

Posted on 6 October 2020

New book out now co-edited by Professor Nick Ellison, with contributions from academics in the Department.

The Handbook on Society and Social Policy has been published by Edward Elgar Publishing, with Nick Ellison, Professor of Social Policy, from the Department co-editing the Handbook with Dr Tina Haux, Senior Lecturer in Quantitative Social Policy, University of Kent.

This comprehensive Handbook provides a unique examination of the key issues and challenges facing society and social policy in the twenty-first century. Featuring both wide-ranging coverage of major issues and detailed analysis of social policies in different countries, the Handbook explores key concepts, policy areas and institutions, considering welfare and social policy in the context of wider socio-economic and cultural divisions.

The Handbook includes 37 chapters and 51 contributors, with contributions from academics in the Department. Part III focuses on contemporary welfare systems covering much of the globe and includes a chapter on Southern Europe by Dr Theodoros Papadopoulos and Dr Antonios Roumpakis, Part IV is concerned with central policy areas and examines pensions, and includes a chapter on Housing Policy by Professor Nicholas Pleace, and Part V explores the institutions and delivery mechanisms of key areas of social policy and features a chapter on corporate and occupational welfare by Dr Kevin Farnsworth.

‘The editors and contributors to the Handbook on Society and Social Policy are to be congratulated for producing a wide-ranging and important overview of the field which will serve as a standard reference work for many years to come. Dealing with many diverse aspects of social policy, it is particularly noteworthy for moving beyond the standard Western “welfare state” approach which has characterized the subject in the past to incorporate valuable material from other parts of the world as well.’ – James Midgley, University of California, Berkeley

Scholars and students in social policy, sociology and political science looking for a comprehensive overview of the field of social policy will find this Handbook an invaluable resource. It will also prove useful to researchers and practitioners seeking in-depth analyses of particular countries or policy areas covered.

The Handbook on Society and Social Policy is out now published by Edward Elgar Publishing.