Moralising Poverty

Moralising Poverty

Author: Serena Romano

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-07-14

Total Pages: 247

ISBN-13: 1317379845

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Do we judge the poor? Do we fear them? Do we have a moral obligation to help those in need? The moral and social grounds of solidarity and deservedness in relation to aid for poor people are rarely steady. This is particularly true under contemporary austerity reforms, where current debates question exactly who is most ‘deserving’ of protection in times of crisis. These arguments have accompanied a rise in the production of negative and punitive sentiments towards the poor. This book breaks new ground in the discussion of the moral dimension of poverty and its implications for the treatment of the poor in mature welfare states, drawing upon the diverse political, social and symbolic constructions of deservedness and otherness. It takes a new look at the issue of poverty from the perspective of public policy, media and public opinion. It also examines, in a topical manner, the various ways in which certain factions contribute to the production of stereotyped representations of poverty and to the construction of boundaries between ‘insiders’ and ‘outsiders’ in our society. Case studies from the UK and Italy are used to examine these issues, and to understand the impact that a moralising of poverty has on the everyday experiences of the poor. This is valuable reading for students and researchers interested in contemporary social work, social policy and welfare systems.


Poverty in Italy

Poverty in Italy

Author: Chiara Saraceno

Publisher: Policy Press

Published: 2020-09-02

Total Pages: 208

ISBN-13: 144735222X

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Three experienced Italian sociologists explore the structural and cultural dimensions of poverty in their country. Comparing Italy’s regime with other European countries, they consider the interplay of conditions in the labour market, the family and welfare arrangements as causes of poverty. This in-depth analysis explores how forced familialism, unbalanced gender arrangements, territorial cleavages and sluggish growth have rendered Italy vulnerable to financial crisis. As old risks of poverty have worsened, new risks have emerged and children, the working poor and migrants have become the ‘new poor’. Combining theoretical and empirical tools, this is a topical fresh take on the understanding of poverty in Italy that is even more crucial considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.


Quantitative History and Uncharted People

Quantitative History and Uncharted People

Author: Johan Fourie

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2023-08-10

Total Pages: 385

ISBN-13: 1350331163

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One of the biggest challenges in the study of history is the unreliable nature of traditional archival sources which omit histories of marginalised groups. This book makes the case that quantitative history offers a way to fill these gaps in the archive. Showcasing 13 case studies from the South African past, it applies quantitative sources, tools and methods to social histories from below to uncover the experiences of unchartered peoples. Examining the occupations of slaves, victims of the Spanish flu, health of schoolchildren and more, it shows how quantitative tools can be particularly powerful in regions where historical records are preserved, but questions of bias and prejudice pervade. Applying methods such as GIS mapping, network analysis and algorithmic matching techniques it explores histories of indigenous peoples, women, enslaved peoples and other groups marginalised in South African history. Connecting quantitative sources and new forms of data interpretation with a narrative social history, this book offers a fresh approach to quantitative methods and shows how they can be used to achieve a more complete picture of the past.


Deservingness in Welfare Policy and Practice

Deservingness in Welfare Policy and Practice

Author: Laura Tarkiainen

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2022-09-30

Total Pages: 131

ISBN-13: 1000686302

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This book discusses and illustrates how deservingness can be approached as a discursively and rhetorically accomplished phenomenon having varied empirical consequences with regard to welfare, poverty, class and care arrangements. Providing a thorough analysis of how deservingness representations are generated in the twenty-first century by focusing on the analysis of discourse and rhetoric of policymakers, reality TV participants, frontline workers and unemployed individuals, it shows that different actors actively participate in constructing representations of deservingness through which variety of political, practical and social implications and objectives are achieved and performed. The book addresses key themes such as: • What kinds of rhetorical and discursive tactics can be associated with un/deservingness? • How deservingness is accomplished as a speech act? • How different actors such as policymakers, reality TV programme participants, frontline workers and individual citizens participate in constructing un/deservingness? • What kind of practical implications and consequences deservingness representations have for policy making, frontline work and research This book will be of interest to all scholars and students of social policy, social work, sociology, social psychology, political science and media studies.


Research Handbook on Public Sociology

Research Handbook on Public Sociology

Author: Lavinia Bifulco

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Published: 2023-05-09

Total Pages: 405

ISBN-13: 180037738X

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Engaging with the key debates and issues in a continuously evolving field, Lavinia Bifulco and Vando Borghi bring together contributions from leading social scientists to debate the enduring relevance of public sociology in light of ongoing changes in the social world.


Moralising Space

Moralising Space

Author: Matthew Wilson

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2018-05-11

Total Pages: 393

ISBN-13: 1315449102

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Amidst the soot, stink and splendour of Victorian London, a coterie of citizen-sociologists set out to break up the British Empire. They were the followers of the French philosopher Auguste Comte, a controversial figure who introduced the modern science of sociology and the republican Religion of Humanity. Moralising Space examines how from the 1850s Comte’s British followers practised this science and religion with the aim to create a global network of 500 utopian city-states. Curiously the British Positivists’ work has never been the focus of a full-length study on modern sociology and town planning. In this intellectual history, Matthew Wilson shows that through to the interwar period affiliates to the British Positivist Society – Richard Congreve, Frederic Harrison, Charles Booth, Patrick Geddes and Victor Branford – attempted to realise Comte’s vision. With scarcely used source material Wilson presents the Positivists as an organised resistance to imperialism, industrial exploitation, poverty and despondency. Much to the consternation of the church, state and landed aristocracy they organised urban interventions, led ad hoc sociological surveys and published programmes for realising idyllic city-communities. Effectively this book contributes to our understanding of how Positivism, as a utopian spatial design praxis, heavily influenced twentieth-century architecture and planning.