Austerity Policies

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xiii

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2. Introduction

   • Peter Rushton, Catherine Donovan

   Pages 1-17

3. Austerity: A Break with the Past?

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 19-19

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   2. Austerity—A Critical History of the Present

      • Peter Rushton

      Pages 21-43

   3. Austerity and the Undermining of Democracy

      • Ilona Buchroth, Linda Hetherington

      Pages 45-66

   4. Mothering in an Age of Austerity

      • Sheila Quaid

      Pages 67-88

4. Undermining Professionals

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 89-89

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   2. Austerity and De-professionalisation

      • Nigel Malin

      Pages 91-120

   3. Inspecting ‘Transforming Rehabilitation’: The Pitfalls of an Austerity Managerialist Approach to Offender Supervision

      • Nicola Roberts

      Pages 121-146

   4. Poverty, Regulation and New Forms of Educational Exclusion

      • Kim Gilligan

      Pages 147-169

5. Some Consequences of Twenty-First Century Austerity

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 171-171

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   2. Cutting the Ribbon? Austerity Measures and the Problems Faced by the HIV Third Sector

      • Drew Dalton

      Pages 173-195

   3. “Well That Would Be Nice, but We Can’t Do That in the Current Climate”: Prioritising Services Under Austerity

      • Catherine Donovan, Matt Durey

      Pages 197-220

   4. Dangerous Times for Looked-After Children: Austerity Cuts Risking the Lives of the Most Vulnerable

      • Stephanie Hunter

      Pages 221-240

   5. The ‘New Normal’: Framing Vulnerability, Entitlement and Responsibility in Police Custody in Austere Times

      • Donna Peacock, Faye Cosgrove

      Pages 241-265

6. Back Matter

   Pages 267-280

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This book takes up the problems of social policy, state intervention and support in the hard times of austerity introduced by the Coalition government 2010-15, and continued under the Conservative government today. At a time when the economy is growing and pay levels finally rising, the necessity for more cuts in public expenditure is fiercely contested. The scope of state services, the levels of support for people in need, and the kinds of organizations that will deliver the services, will all be profoundly affected in coming years. The authors and editors assess some of these consequences visible now in the impact that expenditure cuts and reorganization have had on many areas of social policy, and explore the direction of change in the near future.

Austerity Policies evaluates a wide range of changing form of state services and the transformations involving both the recipients and those delivering the services. It considers the past, presentand future of austerity as a policy, and the problems affecting particular groups such as offenders, looked after children, and professionals such as social care workers and those engaged with domestic violence. The collection will be of interest to students and scholars of social policy, criminology, sociology, politics and media studies. 

• Coalition government
• Conservative government
• Social exclusion
• Neoliberalism
• De-professionalisation

“This is an excellent addition to the growing literature examining the impact of austerity on individuals, families and communities. … Austerity Policies: Bad Ideas in Practice will be of interest to students, practitioners and other readers from a range of academic and professional backgrounds.” (Ian Cummins, Critical Social Policy, Vol. 39 (3), 2019)

• School of Social Sciences, Faculty of Education and Society, Reg Vardy Centre, Sunderland, United Kingdom

  Peter Rushton

• Department of Sociology, University of Durham, Durham, United Kingdom

  Catherine Donovan

Peter Rushton is Professor of Historical Sociology at the University of Sunderland, and leader of the REF Unit in History for the 2014 research exercise.​

Catherine Donovan is a Professor in Social Relations and is Research Lead in the School of Social Sciences at the University of Sunderland. 

Policies and ethics