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Unemployment and Government

Genealogies of the Social

William Walters author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Cambridge University Press

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Unemployment and Government cover

This book charts the changing definitions of unemployment in the UK over the last century.

This book charts the changing definitions and problematizations of unemployment in Britain over the last century. Utilizing Foucault's work on governmentality, the book uses historical and statistical material to illustrate the relationship between employment, social freedom and the welfare state.While joblessness is by no means a phenomenon specific to this century, the concept of 'unemployment' is. This book follows the invention and transformation of unemployment, understood as a historically specific site of regulation. Taking key aspects of the history of unemployment in Britain as its focus, it argues that the ways in which authorities have defined and sought to manage the jobless have been remarkably varied. In tracing some of the different constructions of unemployment over the last 100 years - as a problem of 'character', as a social 'risk', or today, as a problem of 'skills' - the study highlights the discursive dimension of social and economic policy problems. The book examines such institutionalized practices as the labour bureau, unemployment insurance, and the 'New Deal' as 'technologies' of power. The result is a challenge to our thinking about welfare states.

"Walters has written a sophisticated account not only of the history of unemployment but of the way social problems are defined and handled through pratices of governmentality. His book should be widely consulted." Jrnl of Sociology & Social Welfare
"The book is well worth reading...it might, hopefully, stimulate serious thinking about unemployment policy in a Canadian context." Canadian Journal of Sociology Online Jan-Feb 2002

ISBN: 9780521643337

Dimensions: 236mm x 163mm x 21mm

Weight: 551g

208 pages