Welfare, Inequality and Social Citizenship

Autorentext

Dr Daniel Edmiston is a lecturer in Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Leeds. He holds a PhD in Sociology and Social Policy and has previously worked for the Economic and Social Research Council; Prime Minister's Strategy Unit; and the University of Oxford. His research interests include poverty and inequality, comparative welfare reform, welfare state futures, and the political economy of social citizenship.

Klappentext

Exploring the lived realities of both poverty and prosperity in the UK, this book examines the material and symbolic significance of welfare austerity and its implications for social citizenship and inequality. The book offers a rare and vivid insight into the everyday lives, attitudes and behaviours of the rich as well as the poor, demonstrating how those marginalised and validated by the existing welfare system make sense of the prevailing socio-political settlement and their own position within it. Through the testimonies of both affluent and deprived citizens, the book problematises dominant policy thinking surrounding the functions and limits of welfare, examining the civic attitudes and engagements of the rich and the poor, to demonstrate how welfare austerity and rising structural inequalities secures and maintains institutional legitimacy. The book offers a timely contribution to academic and policy debates pertaining to citizenship, welfare reform and inequality.