BUP Copyright Material: Individual use only. Not for resale.
Understanding global social policy (3rd edn)
introductory overview of GSP as a field of academic study and as a political practice of social actors. It is concerned with the ‘what’, ‘who’, ‘why’ and ‘how’ of GSP. The chapters span a wide range of areas and issues, uncovering the multifaceted scope of GSP, why it is needed, what and who is involved in making it, how it is enacted, what its consequences and impacts are, and what challenges lie ahead. This edition contains a mix of updated chapters from previous editions as well as newly commissioned ones, written by world-leading scholars in GSP. The remainder of this chapter introduces the book as a whole. It discusses the significance of the prefix ‘global’ and what this implies. It distinguishes key features of GSP as a field of academic study and research and as political practice. After a brief introduction of each of the chapters, it concludes with a summary of key points, guidance on using the book, questions for further discussion and further resources.
Globalisation, social science and social policy Social policy as a subject of academic study and research has given rise to a rich interdisciplinary field of study with a distinctive body of theory, concepts and methods that has underpinned timely, relevant and useful research with and for communities, social movement organisations, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and governments. Traditionally, it strictly followed the tenets of methodological nationalism – the idea that domestic welfare institutions, policies and programmes of social action and their outcomes are the only meaningful subject of study and research, and that they are wholly shaped by social relations and interactions among domestic actors within national (or sub-national) spheres of governance. Global social policy challenges this methodological stance on the basis that it renders invisible the ‘extra-national’ and ‘transnational’ realms in which social policies are made, contested and implemented. GSP’s methodological transnationalism aims to uncover the contours and textures of these extra-national and transnational realms – the institutions and actors, the relations between them, and the outcomes of their interactions (see Box 1.1).
Box 1.1: Contrasting methodological approaches in social science and social policy Methodological nationalism: • Emphasises the institutions, actors and processes forging, sustaining and reconfiguring links and ties within countries. • Focuses on the ways in which domestic politics, policy actors, policies and institutions influence national welfare states, welfare systems and social policies.
2
