Social Policy in Challenging Times

The 2008 economic crisis destabilized the world's financial centers and ushered in a global economic slowdown, but the effects of the recession have not been uniform. As Social Policy in Challenging Times skillfully reveals, the "global crisis" can be better understood as a variety of crises, each mediated by its national context. Employing a fruitful international approach, the contributors to this timely book examine the recession's effects on social policy at different levels in different countries, illuminating the forces reshaping welfare system under radically altered circumstances.

Kevin Farnsworth is Lecturer in Social Policy at the University of Sheffield, UK. His primary research interests concern power and politics, class struggle and public policy, and the political economy of welfare systems. His first book was entitled Corporate power and social policy (2004), published by The Policy Press. Zo Irving is Lecturer in Comparative Social Policy at the University of Sheffield. Her current research interests focus primarily on social policies in small states and the changing patterns of men's employment. She has previously published in the areas of gender and employment, and social policy in small island states.