Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of figures and tables
- Preface
- Notes on contributors
- one The legacy of Peter Townsend
- two The making of a pioneer researcher: reflections from Peter Townsend’s life story
- three Peter Townsend, a man ahead of his time: re-reading The family life of old people and The last refuge
- four The case for universal child benefit
- five Poverty
- six Social justice for children: investigating and eradicating child poverty
- seven For universalism and against the means test
- eight Underclass, overclass, ruling class, supernova class
- nine Addressing health inequalities: building on Peter Townsend’s legacy
- ten Towards a new sociology of ageing: from structured dependency to critical gerontology
- eleven Disability: prospects for social inclusion
- twelve Putting the lawyers in their place: the role of human rights in the struggle against poverty
- thirteen Radicalising social policy in the 21st century: a global approach
- fourteen Conclusion: building on the legacy of Peter Townsend
- Index
thirteen - Radicalising social policy in the 21st century: a global approach
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 September 2022
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of figures and tables
- Preface
- Notes on contributors
- one The legacy of Peter Townsend
- two The making of a pioneer researcher: reflections from Peter Townsend’s life story
- three Peter Townsend, a man ahead of his time: re-reading The family life of old people and The last refuge
- four The case for universal child benefit
- five Poverty
- six Social justice for children: investigating and eradicating child poverty
- seven For universalism and against the means test
- eight Underclass, overclass, ruling class, supernova class
- nine Addressing health inequalities: building on Peter Townsend’s legacy
- ten Towards a new sociology of ageing: from structured dependency to critical gerontology
- eleven Disability: prospects for social inclusion
- twelve Putting the lawyers in their place: the role of human rights in the struggle against poverty
- thirteen Radicalising social policy in the 21st century: a global approach
- fourteen Conclusion: building on the legacy of Peter Townsend
- Index
Summary
Introduction
We undertake four tasks in this chapter. First, we offer a brief review of Peter Townsend's work on global social policy and the stature of its contribution to its field. We highlight the innovativeness and breadth of coverage of Peter's work which was firmly grounded in a materialist, globalist and sociological analysis of social policy. Second, we reflect on the impact of this work, where we make reference to his academic and policy impacts. Third, we assess the implications of the key messages of Peter's work for current and future research, teaching and campaigning. We focus on the value and importance of a global approach to social policy research, teaching and campaigning, and make especial reference to the implications of his work both on child poverty and social security in the context of the current United Nations (UN) Global Social Floor strategy. Finally, we add some comments on what still needs to be done if Peter's vision of a meaningful global social policy grounded in democratic socialism is to be realised.
Scene setting: a review of the global dimensions of Peter's work
Peter was a pioneer of global social policy. Although global social policy is commonly attributed to a field of study and research that developed in the mid-1990s (see Yeates, 2008b), as early as the 1950s Peter was developing a global analysis of world poverty, combining the insights of global sociology with those of development studies and social policy. Peter's personal diary from January 1953 evidences that he reflected on the relationship between Britain and its colonies in the development of social policy:
True social security and welfare can be brought about in Britain – at a cost. In a sense the level of welfare at present is subsidised by people in our Colonies. Should not their claims have greater consideration than our own? The right to freedom from want has no geographical boundaries. Moreover, a moral and social principle regarded as obligatory for the British is all the more obligatory for colonial peoples for whom we are responsible. We have shunned the rights of East Africans, for example, while pontificating about our own.
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- Information
- Fighting Poverty, Inequality and InjusticeA Manifesto Inspired by Peter Townsend, pp. 257 - 274Publisher: Bristol University PressPrint publication year: 2011