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Postmodernism and Social-Policy - A Great Leap Backwards

Taylor-Gooby, Peter (1994) Postmodernism and Social-Policy - A Great Leap Backwards. Journal of Social Policy, 23 . pp. 385-404. ISSN 0047-2794. (doi:10.1017/s0047279400021917) (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:20069)

The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided.
Official URL:
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0047279400021917

Abstract

Postmodernism claims that the universalist themes of modern society (society-wide political ideologies, the nation-state, the theme of rational planning in government policy, the large-scale public or private sector bureaucracy) are obsolete, to be replaced by a plural interest in diversity and choice. These ideas have strong implications for both the theory of social policy, which typically stresses universal themes of inequality and privilege, and the practice of social policy, which relies on rational analysis to inform society-wide government provision. This article suggests that such an approach ignores the significance of market liberalism and the associated trends to inequality, privatisation, retrenchment and the regulation of the poorest groups. From this perspective, postmodernism functions as an ideological smoke-screen, preventing us from recognising some of the most important trends in modern social policy. It is unfortunate if, at a time when the results of increasing inequality are everywhere apparent, one of the dominant approaches in social science obscures the issue.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1017/s0047279400021917
Subjects: H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Human and Social Sciences > School of Economics
Depositing User: P. Ogbuji
Date Deposited: 18 Jun 2009 08:57 UTC
Last Modified: 09 Mar 2023 11:31 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/20069 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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