Book Review: General Politics: The Oxford Handbook of the Welfare State
| DOI | 10.1111/1478-9302.12016_65 |
| Published date | 01 May 2013 |
| Author | Edwin Griggs |
| Date | 01 May 2013 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
Media and Participation: A Site of Ideological-
Democratic Struggle by Nico Carpentier. Bristol:
Intellect, 2011. 405pp., £19.95, ISBN 9781841504070
The relationship between media and participation has
over time become obfuscated by vague interpretations
across a diverse array of academic fields. Media and
Participation:A Site of Ideological-Democratic Struggle offers
a rich, interdisciplinary overview in order to amalga-
mate and address the diverging definitions from demo-
cratic theory, spatial planning, development, arts and
museums, and communication studies.In each a strug-
gle is exposed between minimalist and maximalist
dimensions of participation: a constant dispute over
whether participation is limited to representation
within institutionalised systems, or whether it is part of
a convergence of the political and social.Nico Car pen-
tier maintains that power dynamics,and the str uggle to
minimise or maximise equal power positions (p.11), are
ubiquitous among the vying conceptualisations. By way
of conclusion, he collates these findings within the
Access, Interaction and Participation model (p. 130);
access and interaction are crucial components that
enable acts of participation, but are differentiateddue to
the power relationship within a variety of decision-
making processes.
In the second part of the book Carpentier empiri-
cally examines this definition in relation to a number of
structuring elements that play an enabling or disabling
role in relation to the participatory process: identity,
organisation, technology and quality. A number of
mixed-method case studies are employed that mirror
the minimalist vs. maximalist theme. For example,
within the analysis of media organisations, Carpentier
examines the BBC’s Video Nation, an illustration of a
power equilibrium between media professionals and
citizens, and participation fostered through the sharing
and discussion of user-generated content in the form of
video submissions (p. 246). In contrast, scrutiny of the
community radio network Radioswap offers a caution-
ary tale of how participatory organisational structures
can in fact impede citizen influence and replicate
embedded, hierarchical power structures (p. 259).
Fundamentally,Carpentier actively celebrates partici-
pation as a concept in flux: it is precisely the struggle
over its definition that encapsulates the constantly
evolving power dynamics (p. 352).However, the book
is at pains to highlight the importance of definitional
constraint, something it succeeds in doing through the
introduction of the Access, Interaction and Participa-
tion model. The book offers a lucid yet exhaustive
account, combining both intricate theoretical detail
with prudent and informative examples. As a result, it
makes for a thorough, historically contextualised intro-
ductory text for emerging scholars, while the empirical
contributions should entice seasoned academics from a
diverse range of fields including political theory, com-
munications and political sociology.
James Dennis
(Royal Holloway, University of London)
The Oxford Handbook of the Welfare State by
Francis G. Castles,Stephan Leibfried,Jane Lewis,
Herbert Obinger and Christopher Pierson (eds).
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010. 876pp.,
£85.00, ISBN 978 0 19 957939 6
Political scientists who noticed this book for review
might have been put off bythe ter m‘welfare’ in the title.
In fact the ‘state’in the title is as impor tant, if not more
so.The moder n state is a welfare state, so the book is
really about the modern state and its activities. It is a
major work of reference on ‘welfare state studies’, pro-
viding a synoptic overview of the politics, sociology,
economics, philosophy, evolution and structure of the
welfare state. In ter ms of comprehensiveness of scope
and coverage it is remarkable and no topic or issue of
importance has been omitted.The scope is firmly com-
parative and interdisciplinary. The book is a tribute to
the extent to which welfare, traditionally regarded as a
rather humdrum affair,the province of experts and tech-
nocrats, has become a subject of mainstream academic
interest. Such a work is largely self-recommending and
hardly needs a conventional review.The contr ibutors
and editors are all scholars of the front rank in the field
and the book is itself an example of multinational,global
collaboration. Many, perhaps most, of the contr ibutors
are writing in a language that is not their first language,
that is, English.
Esping-Andersen’s work on the identification and
conceptualisation of welfare regime types is examined
in more than one chapter. Other major themes
explored in many of the chapters include the supposed
‘neo-liberal’ challenge to the welfare state, as well as
issues of globalisation, marketisation and the role of the
BOOK REVIEWS 267
© 2013 TheAuthors. Political Studies Review © 2013 Political Studies Association
Political Studies Review: 2013, 11(2)
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