29,068 research outputs found
Introducing Universal Credit.
No full textIn this chapter, author Paul Spicker interrogates the government's introduction of Universal Credit, a controversial scheme designed to unify various means-tested benefits for people of working age. The scheme brings together six existing benefits: income-related Jobseeker's Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance, Working Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit, Housing Benefit and Income Support. Spicker argues that analysts of Universal Credit must drill down to the detail of the scheme and the benefits that it covers. He sees defects in 'the concept and design' of the Universal Credit agenda, as there were in previous grand schemes in social policy history. He also sees potential for the benefit system to break down if it cannot prove to be practically viable. Governments, Spicker contends, cannot easily meet the multiple objectives that must be typically met in 'simple' and 'unified' benefit programmes
What's wrong with social security benefits?
No full textIn this thought-provoking book, Paul Spicker challenges readers to rethink social security benefits in Britain. Putting a case for reform of the system, Spicker argues that most of the criticisms made of social security benefits – that spending is out of control, that it has led to mushrooming dependency, that it fails to get people into work, and that the system is riddled with fraud – are misconceived. Addressing those misconceptions, Spicker assesses the real problems with the system, related to its size, its complexity, the expectation that benefits agencies should know everything, and the determination to ‘personalise’ benefits for millions of people. This stimulating short book is a valuable introduction to social security in Britain and the potential for its reform. This example chapter is a post-peer review, pre-copyedited version of text excerpted of chapter 3 - The real problems
Thinking collectively: social policy, collective action and the common good.
No full textIn this book, well-respected author Paul Spicker lends a complementary voice to his Reclaiming Individualism, reviewing collectivism as a dimension of political discourse. Breaking down his analysis to examine collectivism through substantive, moral and methodological lenses, he reviews a series of arguments for cooperative effort, solidarity and collective responsibility. Taking a dispassionate and methodical approach, the author explores what collectivism means in social policy and what value it offers to the field. This example excerpt is a post-peer review, pre-copyedited version from chapter 1 - Substantive collectivism: collectivism in practice
\u3cem\u3eSocial Policy in a Changing Society.\u3c/em\u3e Maurice Mullard and Paul Spicker.
No full textBook note for Maurice Mullard and Paul Spicker, Social Policy in a Changing Society. New York: Routledge, 1999. 24.88 papercover
New benefit powers for Scotland.
No full textPending agreement between the Scottish and UK Governments, and the completion of the relevant Parliamentary processes, Scotland is set to gain significant new powers over aspects of the social security system. In order to help Poverty Alliance members better understand what these changes are and how they may be used Paul Spicker, Emeritus Professor at Robert Gordon University, has produced this short briefing. This briefing paper is part of the process to allow Poverty Alliance members determine the priorities for our network in relation to new social security powers in the years to come
Principles of social welfare: an introduction to thinking about the welfare state.
No full textThis book is about social policy and administration, which is a field of study mainly concerned with 'social welfare' and the 'social services'. Social policy is not a self-contained academic discipline. The book attempts to draw material together and to offer insights into a set of problems from a variety of perspectives. The source material has been taken from politics, sociology, philosophy and economics, as well as from the literature on social policy in its own right; there are occasional references to work from history, psychology, anthropology or law. But it is not possible to deal with each topic in depth in a way that would satisfy the demands of each discipline, and usually it is not even desirable. In its original form, the material may have been only obliquely relevant to social policy; the point that is of interest is how it reflects on the issues in the study of social welfare. For that very reason, the book should be of some value to people who approach it from variousdisciplines. It will not give them a comprehensive statement of the debate in their own subject, but it should offer an insight into other areas of study which can be applied to their own particular interests, and a range of illustrations from the field of social welfare. This is an Arabic translation of the author's original book SPICKER, P. 2013. Principles of social welfare: an introcution to thinking about the welfare state. Aberdeen: Paul Spicker
The poverty of nations: a relational perspective.
No full textIn this persuasive study, social welfare and policy expert Paul Spicker makes a case for a relational view of poverty. Poverty is much more than a lack of resources. It involves a complex set of social relationships, such as economic disadvantage, insecurity or a lack of rights. These relational elements tell us what poverty is – what it consists of, what poor people are experiencing, and what problems need to be addressed. This book examines poverty in the context of the economy, society and the political community, considering how states can respond to issues of inequality, exclusion and powerlessness. Drawing on examples of social policy in both rich and poor countries, this is an accessible contribution to the debate about the nature of poverty and responses to it
What can the Scottish Parliament do with new social security powers?
No full textProfessor Paul Spicker analyses the planned devolution of social security powers to the Scottish Parliament in the Scotland Bill and argues: The reforms have been represented as giving Scotland 'one of the most powerful devolved parliaments in the world.' That is debatable. In any federal system, powers lie by default with the states, not with central government. It is open to the states (and sometimes to local governments) to experiment and to innovate. Scotland will not be able to do this. Everything the Scottish Parliament does will have to be done with an eye to what is happening elsewhere in benefits, and they will be subject to continued direction, and control of resources, from central government. However, there will be things they can do, and those things will be worth doing
Conversations with Paul Auster
No full textInterviews with the author of The New York Trilogy, In the Country of Last Things, and The Brooklyn Follies.Cover -- Contents -- Introduction -- Chronology -- Translation -- Interview with Paul Auster -- An Interview with Paul Auster -- Memory's Escape-Inventing the Music of Chance: A Conversation with Paul Auster -- The Making of Smoke -- The Manuscript in the Book: A Conversation -- An Interview with Paul Auster -- The Futurist Radio Hour: An Interview with Paul Auster -- Paul Auster: Writer and Director -- Off the Page: Paul Auster -- Paul Auster: The Art of Fiction -- Jonathan Lethem Talks with Paul Auster -- A Conversation with Paul Auster -- The Making of The Inner Life of Martin Frost -- Interview: Paul Auster -- A Connoisseur of Clouds, a Meteorologist of Whims: The Rumpus Interview with Paul Auster -- Interview: Paul Auster on His New Novel, Invisible -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- Y -- ZInterviews with the author of The New York Trilogy, In the Country of Last Things, and The Brooklyn Follies.Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, YYYY. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries
Portrait of Paul Ham at the National Library of Australia, 15 November 2011 /
No full textTitle from nformation supplied by photographer.; Part of the collection: Podcast photograph of author Paul Ham at the National Library of Australia, 15 November 2011.; Mode of access: Online.; Photographed by a staff member of the National Library of Australia
- …
