The politics of civil society
Neoliberalism or Social Left?
- Author/Editor(s):
- Frederick Powell
- Format:
- Paperback, 264 pages, 234 x 156 mm
- ISBN
- 9781861347640
- Published:
- 27 Jun 2007
£18.39 - List price: £22.99 You save: £4.60
North America customers can order this book here from the University of Chicago Press.
"Frederick Powell has written an original and important book which draws civil society from the margins into the centre of political and social theorising. The Politics of Civil Society will be essential reading for anyone concerned with the strengthening of market power and the erosion of democracy in contemporary society."
Professor Peadar Kirby, Co-director, Centre for International Studies, Dublin City University
About This Book
This is an indispensable book for anyone who wants to make sense of the bewildering recent shifts in ideology and policy towards the welfare state, and to understand the broader political implications of civil society. The Politics of Civil Society offers a wide-ranging analysis of recent shifts in the ideas andparadigms that underpin social policy. Since the 1980s the renaissance of civil society has introduced new ideas about the nature of power, citizenship and human rights, which radically challenge the dominance of the state, the power of professionals andthe welfare system itself. Frederick Powell traces the historical roots of these apparent changes and movements, demonstrates in detail their often paradoxical results and speculates about the whole future of social policy. He has produced an entirely original synthesis, as well as a major guide to social policy, that goes well beyond traditional interpretations of civil society as the voluntary and community sector. This is not just a book for the specialist reader but raises a whole range of issues of much wider interest to the social sciences. A concluding chapter on the practical and policy implications of the analysis is of special relevance to welfare practitioners and policy-makers.
Author Biography
Frederick Powell is Professor of Social Policy and Head of the Department of Applied Social Studies, National University of Ireland, Cork.Contents
Conservative restoration: resituating the welfare state
Modernity, civil society and civic virtue
Nietzsche's revenge: the party state
Virtue and necessity: the welfare state
Welfare reform and civil society
Civil society and welfare models
Active citizenship, communitarianism and social partnership
Neoliberalism and social capital
Chasing the Zeitgeist: the emergence of a Social Left
Welfare reform, postmodernity and civil society.
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