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Book Review: A Handbook of Comparative Social Policy

Document Cited in Related
Vincent
Published date01 June 2006
DOI10.1177/138826270600800209
AuthorMilena Büchs
Date01 June 2006
Subject MatterBook Review
/tmp/tmp-17vFcG38643d9X/input Book Reviews
Patricia Kennett (ed.), A Handbook of Comparative Social Policy, Cheltenham,
Edward Elgar, 2004, 422 pp., ISBN 1-84542-765-3
A Handbook of Comparative Social Policy provides a rich introductory guide to
comparative social policy for students and researchers. Its appearance as the first
‘handbook’ in this field mirrors developments in social policy over the last two to three
decades. The number of comparative studies in social policy has increased hugely since
the 1960s and so inevitably have the diversity of research questions and approaches in
this area. This handbook offers a well-structured, comprehensive and up-to-date
overview of the various dimensions of comparative social policy research.
The handbook is divided into five parts: globalisation and the state; concepts and
definitions of comparative social policy; categorisations of ‘welfare families’; the
research process; and current themes and issues. Part I, entitled ‘The state and social
policy in a globalising world’, puts comparative social policy into context. All the
chapters in this section emphasise that globalisation affects the role of nation states
and their instruments of governance. The main message of this section is that
globalisation leads to a restricted role for the state in social policy-making with
‘downward, upward and outward shifts’ (Bob Jessop, p. 11) in policy-making
responsibilities and in policy implementation. In contrast to many other accounts of
the relationship between globalisation and social policy, this part of the book stresses
the differentiated impact of globalisation on individual social groups and regions, for
example on women (Jill Steans), the southern hemisphere (Andre´s Pe´rez-Baltodano)
and countries in which welfare was or is pursued ‘by other means’ (Castles 1989,
referred to by Ramesh Mishra, p. 68). These chapters are examples of high quality
comparative social policy research which do not just compare specific social policy
programmes in different...

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