Human Development and Capability Association, 2012 Annual Conference in Jakarta
I end my long hiatus with the following brief description of this year’s HDCA conference. Development studies have come a long way since the decades of overt paternalism and condescension … Continue reading
Neoliberalism and social policy: A problematic combination during a recession?
Before I launch into an explanation and partial critique of neoliberalism’s effect on social policy, the spirit and aim of welfare services bears repeating. Social services like unemployment assistance, health … Continue reading
Interdisciplinarity and the search for collective self-actualization
The first chapter of Hartley Dean’s Social Policy emphasizes the high potential for interdisciplinary frameworks in the field. Dean states, “[Social policy] brings in ideas and analytical methods from sociology, … Continue reading
Social policy and soft power: How institutions can boost a nation’s international status
Joseph S. Nye of Harvard University popularized the concept of “soft power” when addressing the growing importance of China in the Asian community. More traditional modes of power, e.g. economic … Continue reading
Beyond rationalism: the moral dimension of state motivation
Rationalism, or the idea that agents guide their behaviors based on an understanding of fundamentally material self-interest, dominates most theoretical and applied treatments of topics in political economy. In other … Continue reading
The Comparative Institutionalist Approach: the Best Method for Understanding International Political Economy and Social Policies?
As our understanding increases and global institutions become more complex, it is less and less likely for a single monolithic grand theory to properly explain the inner workings of all … Continue reading
Social Policy and International Development Aid
The U.N.’s Millennium Development Goals One definition of social policy is the provision of social services including health care, education, housing, and social security. Many developing countries cannot provide … Continue reading
What “New Institutional Economics” might have to say about Social Policy
New Institutional Economics came about near the beginning of the twentieth century with Ronald Coase’s 1937 study “The Nature of the Firm”. Coase contradicted the prevailing wisdom by asserting that … Continue reading
Capitalist/socialist state actors in China: No more dichotomy
[The following comments offer a brief summary of a key component of Philip C. C. Huang’s 2011 article, “The Theoretical and Practical Implications of China’s Development Experience: The Role of … Continue reading
Think Out Loud 