This book explores the relevance of conspiracy theories in the modern social and political history of the Nordic countries.The Nordic countries have traditionally imagined themselves as stable, wealthy, egalitarian welfare states. Conspiracy theories, mistrust and disunity, the argument goes, happened elsewhere in Europe (especially Eastern Europe), the Middle East or in the United States. This book paints a different picture by demonstrating that conspiracy theories have always ex...

Available open access under CC-BY-NC-ND licence.Leading international experts review recent social policy developments in this latest edition of the longstanding Social Policy Review series.Available Open Access and published in association with the Social Policy Association, this edited book provides a comprehensive review of the past year’s key policy trends and most significant scholarship. Featuring expert contributions around elections, parties and comparative perspect...

Every one of us will need care at some point in life: social care, healthcare, childcare, eldercare. In the shadow of COVID-19, care has become the most urgent topic of our times. But our care systems are in crisis. Concern for the most vulnerable has been overtaken by an obsession with profits and productivity. How did we end up here?In an era of economic turmoil, lower birth rates and increased life expectancy mean a larger proportion of the population than ever before is of reti...

This open access handbook provides a multilevel view on family policies, combining insights on family policy outcomes at different levels of policymaking: supra-national organizations, national states, sub-national or regional levels, and finally smaller organizations and employers. At each of these levels, a multidisciplinary group of expert scholars assess policies and their implementation, such as child income support, childcare services, parental leave, and leave to provide care to fra...

'A wonderfully international and up-to-date perspective on strategic environmental assessment of land use plans by leading experts in the field. Strategic Environmental Assessment and Land Use Planning covers not only how much such SEAs are carried out and in what context, but whether they are effective and why. It provides invaluable insights for practitioners and researchers in this rapidy evolving field'Riki Therivel, author of Strategic Environmental Assessment in Action...

We are witnessing the development of new technologies that could have a dramatic impact on markets for both skilled and unskilled labour, including the use of Big Data. In addition, many welfare states have once again been restructured, sometimes weakening states’ protection of employees. This timely book provides a systematic and vigorous analysis of the impact of new technology on the labour market and different kinds of welfare states.The book offers a novel contribution to the ...

This authoritative handbook surveys the full breadth and depth of SEA, bringing together a range of international perspectives and insights on the theoretical, methodological and institutional dimensions and practical issues of the field. It then subjects this conventional wisdom to a critical reappraisal, looks at the vast lessons of experience and offers new ideas and interpretations as to where the field is going.The volume is organized into six major sections, beginning with an...

The concept of predistribution is increasingly setting the agenda in progressive politics. But what does it mean? The predistributive agenda is concerned with how states can alter the underlying distribution of market outcomes so they no longer rely solely on post hoc redistribution to achieve economic efficiency and social justice. It therefore offers an effective means of tackling economic and social inequality alongside traditional welfare policies, emphasising employability, human capi...

This volume of essays examines the empirical evidence on school choice in different countries across Europe, North America, sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. It demonstrates the advantages which choice offers in different institutional contexts, whether it be Free Schools in the UK, voucher systems in Sweden or private-proprietor schools for low-income families in Liberia. Everywhere experience suggests that parents are ‘active choosers’: they make rational and considered decisions, drawi...

This open access book aims to consolidate and advance debates on European and global energy poverty by exploring the political and infrastructural drivers and implications of the condition across a variety of spatial scales. It highlights the need for a geographical conceptualization of the different ways in which household-level energy deprivation both influences and is contingent upon disparities occurring at a wider range of spatial scales. There is a strong focus on the relationships a...

More people are extending their working lives through necessity or choice in the context of increasingly precarious labour markets and neoliberalism. This book goes beyond the aggregated statistics to explore the lived experiences of older people attempting to make job transitions.Drawing on the voices of older workers in a diverse range of European countries, leading scholars explore job redeployment and job mobility, temporary employment, unemployment, employment beyond pension a...

Richer nations are happier, yet economic growth doesn't increase happiness. This paradox is explained by the Hidden Wealth of Nations - the extent to which citizens get along with other independently drives both economic growth and well-being.Much of this hidden wealth is expressed in everyday ways, such as our common values, the way we look after our children and elderly, or whether we trust and help strangers. It is a hidden dimension of inequality, and helps to explain why gover...