Forming Nation, Framing Welfare is one of the key titles in the Social Policy: Welfare, Power and Diversity series from Routledge. The book introduces an historical perspective on the emergence and development of social welfare. Beginning with the familar concept of "the family", the editor, Gail Lewis, and the renowned contributors trace the crucial historical roots and desires that fed the development of social policy in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in subjects such as education, the family, unemployment and nationhood. By aiming to discover the link between past and present, it shows that social problems are socially constructed in specific contexts and that there are diverse and competing ways of telling history. This book (and the series) was designed as a set introductory text for the Open University course, Social Policy: Welfare, Power and Diversity and provides a complete and stimulating introduction to this particular area of social policy and welfare. It engages the reader in issues central to the fortunes of the welfare state and is designed as an interactive teaching text, containing activities, comments, questions and keywords.
This self-contain text also references the other books in the series, enabling the reader to grasp and reflect on the central themes, issues and arguments not only of each chapter, but each book and finally the series as a whole.