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Social policy scholars and practitioners work with concepts such as “welfare state” and “social security” but where do these concepts come from and how has their meaning changed over time? Which are the dominant social policy concepts and how are they contested? What characterises social policy language in specific countries and regions of the world and how do social concepts travel between countries? Addressing such questions in a systematic manner for the first time, this edited collection, written by a cross-disciplinary group of leading social policy researchers, analyses the concepts and language used to make sense of contemporary social policy. The volume focuses on OECD countries located on four different continents: Asia, Australasia, Europe, and North America. Combining detailed chapters on particular countries with broader comparative chapters, the book strikes a rare balance between case studies and transnational perspectives. It will be of interest to academics and students in social policy, social work, political science, sociology, history, and public administration, as well as practitioners and policy makers.
This revised second edition is a comprehensive overview of why we speak the languages that we do. It covers language learning imposed by political and economic agendas as well as language choices entered into willingly for reasons of social mobility, economic advantage and group identity.
Social policy scholars and practitioners have long employed concepts such as "welfare state" and "social security"--but where do these concepts come from and how has their meaning changed over time? What characterizes social policy language in different places, and how do some social concepts travel between them? Addressing such questions in a systematic manner, the contributors to this collection analyze the concepts and language used to describe contemporary social policy. Combining detailed chapters on particular countries with broader comparative chapters, the book offers a variety of perspectives on just what we mean when we use these terms.
An examination of how an individual's native language can affect their lifestyle. Topics covered range from maintenance of the mother-tongue and second language learning, to the ideology of language planning theory, to education and language rights.
Devolution in Wales has come of age. It has had profound impact on policy directions, on how social welfare practitioners are trained and carry out their work and on wider issues of national identity that affect the social relation of welfare. This text critically engages with the impact of devolution on welfare practice in one of the devolved nations of the UK.
Analysis of language and discourse in social sciences has become increasingly popular over the past thirty years. Only very recently has it been applied to the study of social work, despite the fact that communication and language are central to social work practice. This book looks at how social workers, their clients and other professionals categorise and manage the problems of social work in ways which are rendered understandable, accountable and which justify professional intervention. Features include: studies of key practice areas in social work, such as interviews, case conferences, home visits analysis of the language and construction used in typical case studies of everyday social work practice exploration of the ways in which professionals can examine their own practice and uncover the discursive, narrative and rhetorical methods that they use. The purpose of this engaging study is to increase awareness of language and discourse in order to help develop better practice in social work. It is essential reading for professionals in social work, child welfare and the human services and will be a valuable contribution to the study of professional language and communication.
By looking closely at the multilingual democracies of India, France and the USA, Harold F. Schiffman examines how language policy is primarily a social construct based on belief systems, attitudes and myths. Linguistic Culture and Language Policy exposes language policy as culture-specific, helping us to understand why language policies evolve the way they do; why they work, or not; and how people's lives are affected by them. These issues will be of specific interest to linguists specialising in multilingual/multicultural societies, bilingual educationalists, curriculum planners and teachers.
Using empirical data, this volume explores the link between second language development and social integration of migrant school students.
How do language policies in education serve the interests of dominant groups within societies? How do policies marginalize some students while granting privilege to others? How do language policies in schools create inequalities among learners? How can schools further the educational, social, and economic interests of linguistic minorities? These questions--the focus of the chapters in this book-- are at the heart of fundamental debates about the role of schools in society; the links between language policies and inequalities of class, region, and ethnicity/nationality; and conflicts between linguistic minorities and "mainstream" populations. The connections between language policies and ine...
Welfare states face profound challenges. Widening economic and social inequalities have been intensified by austerity politics, sharpened by the rise in ethno-nationalism and exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, recent decades have seen a resurgence of social justice activism at the local and transnational level. Yet the transformative power of feminist, anti-racist and post/decolonial thinking has become relatively marginal to core social policy theory, while other critical approaches – around disability, sexuality, migration, age and the environment – have only selectively found recognition. This book provides a much-needed new analysis of this complex landscape, drawing...