The current context of social policy is one in which many of the old certainties of the past have been eroded. The predominantly inward-looking, domestic preoccupation of social policy has made way for a more integrated, international and outward approach to analysis which looks beyond the boundaries of the state. It is in this context that this Handbook brings together the work of key commentators in the field of comparative analysis in order to provide comprehensive coverage of contemporary debates and issues in cross-national social policy research.
Organized around five themes, this thoroughly revised and updated second edition explores the contextual, conceptual, analytical and processual aspects of undertaking comparative social research. The contributions highlight specific areas of comparative social policy including child poverty and well-being, patterns of housing provision and housing inequalities, and social protection in East Asia as well as crime and criminology in a global context. The authors of the Handbook explore continuing and emerging themes as well as issues which are of particular relevance to understanding the contemporary social world.
International in scope, this authoritative Handbook presents original cutting-edge research from leading specialists and will become an indispensable source of reference for anyone interested in comparative and international social research. It will also prove a valuable study aid for undergraduate and postgraduate students from a range of disciplines including social policy, sociology, politics, urban studies and public policy.
Contributors include: D. Bainton, J. Billiet, J. Bradshaw, J. Clasen, G. Crow, R. Forrest, N. Ginsburg, I. Gough, L. Hantrais, B. Jessop, P. Kennett, H.-j. Kwon, N. Lendvai, S. Mangen, J. Midgley, R. Mishra, D. Nelken, J. O'Connor, A. Perez-Baltodano, A. Walker, C.-k. Wong
Contents:
Introduction: The Changing Context of Comparative Social Policy
Patricia Kennett
PART I: THE STATE AND SOCIAL POLICY IN A GLOBALIZING WORLD
1. Hollowing Out the 'Nation-State' and Multi-Level Governance
Bob Jessop
2. Globalization, Human Security and Social Policy: North and South
Andrés Pérez-Baltodano
3. Globalization and the Decline of 'Social Protection by Other Means': The Transformation of Welfare Regimes in Australia, Japan and Eastern Europe
Ramesh Mishra
PART II: CONCEPTS AND DEFINITIONS
4. Defining Comparative Social Policy
Jochen Clasen
5. Conceptualizing State and Society
Graham Crow
6. The Ethnocentric Construction of the Welfare State
Alan Walker and Chack-kie Wong
7. Translation: Towards a Critical Comparative Social Policy Agenda
Noemi Lendvai and David Bainton
PART III: COMPARING AND CATEGORIZING SOCIAL POLICY PROVISION AND REDISTRIBUTION
8. Gender, Citizenship and Welfare State Regimes in the Early Twenty-first Century: 'Incomplete Revolution' and/or Gender Equality 'Lost in Translation'
Julia S. O'Connor
9. Structured Diversity: A Framework for Critically Comparing Welfare States?
Norman Ginsburg
10. Social Development and Social Welfare: Implications for Comparative Social Policy
James Midgley
11. Social Policy Regimes in the Developing World
Ian Gough
PART IV: THE RESEARCH PROCESS
12. Crossing Cultural Boundaries
Linda Hantrais
13. Cross-National Qualitative Research Methods: Innovations in the New Millennium
Steen Mangen
14. Quantitative Methods with Survey Data in Comparative Research
Jaak Billiet
PART V: THEMES AND DEBATES
15. Child Poverty and Child Well-being in Comparative Perspective
Jonathan Bradshaw
16. The Contours of the Housing Question
Ray Forrest
17. Global Economic Downturn and Social Protection in East Asia: Coping with Crisis and Reducing Poverty
Huck-ju Kwon
18. Globalization, Crime and Comparative Criminal Justice
David Nelken
Index
