In the name of liberalism : illiberal social policy in the USA and Britain
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
In the name of liberalism : illiberal social policy in the USA and Britain
Oxford University Press, 1999
- : pbk
Available at 38 libraries
Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. [309]-330) and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
Why have British and North American governments adopted illiberal social policies during this century? In the Name of Liberalism investigates examples of social policy in Britain and the United States that conflict with liberal democratic ideals. The book examines the use of eugenic arguments in the 1920s and 1930s, the use of work camps in the 1930s as a response to mass unemployment and the introduction of work-for-welfare programs since the 1980s.
The book argues that existing accounts of American and British political development neglect how illiberal social policies are intertwined in the creation of modern liberal democratic institutions. Such policies are, paradoxically, justified in terms of the liberal democratic framework itself. In the light of the books research, the author suggests that there is a need to know more about the internal workings of democracies to justify the claim that liberal democracy represents the most
attractive set of political institutions.
Table of Contents
- PART 1. POLITICS, POLICY MAKING AND IDEAS.
- 1. Liberalism and Illiberal Social Policy
- 2. Liberal Democracy and Policy-Making: Knowledge and the Formation of Social Policy
- PART 2. LIBERAL UNREASON
- 3. Cutting off the Worst: Voluntary Sterilisation in Britain in the 1930s
- 4. The Gravest Menace?: Immigration Policy
- PART 3. LIBERAL AMELIORATION AND COLLECTIVISM
- 5. Reconditioning the Unemployed: the Labour Camps in Britain
- 6. This Kind of Work Must Go On: The US Civilian Conservation Corps
- PART 4. THE LIBERAL COERCIVE CONTRACT
- 7. Aroused Like One From Sleep: From New Poor Law to Workfare in Britain
- 8. A Second Chance, Not a Way of Life: Welfare as Workfare in the US
- PART 5. CONCLUSION
- 9. The Future of Social Citizenship
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