Recent years have seen significant changes in the social policies of many liberal welfare-states; this is especially true of social programs for families with children. Increasingly, governments are making family policy trade-offs, reducing support for some families but improving it for others. Why are such trade-offs occurring, and how do governments differ in their approach to family social policy? This study addresses these questions by examining the political, demographic, and socio-economic factors influencing the restructuring of family-related programs in OECD countries. Adopting a feminist political economy approach, Maureen Baker shows that while some governments encourage their citizens to see children as 'future resources,' and promote strong support for reproductive health programs, child welfare services, women's refuges, subsidized childcare, and pay equity, others make these claims while simultaneously reducing family incomes through the deregulation of labour markets and restrictions on income support. Ultimately, Baker demonstrates that nation states with the best outcomes for families offer a variety of social supports, which are increasingly important as global markets reduce economic security for some families while improving the financial situation of others. This study also explores strategies employed by states to incorporate or resist international pressures, and the reasons why some states tenaciously defend their family policy traditions while others restructure according to international guidelines. Drawing from nation-based research, cross-national studies, and international data bases, Restructuring Family Policies successfully integrates mainstream academic debates about restructuring welfare states with feminist research findings and current policy concerns.

"A compilation of policy-relevant research by a multidisciplinary group of scholars on the state of families in rural America in the twenty-first century. Examines the impact of economic restructuring on rural Americans and provides policy recommendations for addressing the challenges they face"--Provided by publisher.

This book is a "how to" manual for working with families in separation and divorce using an active, directive therapeutic process called Family Restructuring Therapy. This philosophy and effective process works well for the "normal" divorced family who need to learn new practices and patterns, and for the "high-conflict" family whose behavior patterns have become so maladaptive that the children's well-being is at risk. A valuable resource for mental health professionals, and also for lawyers and the Court when trying to decide what can be done with challenging parenting battles. It is clearly not a passive approach to counseling. If you're tired of witnessing the damage that conflict has on children and want to engage in the highly satisfying work of helping parents communicate effectively and seeing children relieved of the burden of picking sides, devour this book and get to work

A wide range of social scientific perspectives - from anthropology, geography, history, and Indigenous studies to politics, psychology, and sociology - are represented here. The effects of restructuring processes in Canada and New Zealand are particularly well documented, and the importance of words and their manipulation is emphasized, but it is the broad sweep of approach that distinguishes this work from more abstract or uni-disciplinary commentaries on restructuring. Feature essays, one by former Ontario premier Bob Rae on conservative and radical resistance to abuses of power and two on aboriginal/First Nations issues, challenge important public policy trends. Restructuring Societies takes crucial steps toward developing informed public debate about a process that affects us all.

This study posits that global change is being driven mainly by financial forces, new patterns of economic growth and market ideology. It then goes on to examine the forces opposing such globalizing processes, such as religious and ethnic/social movements throughout Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

Research, Action and Policy: Addressing the Gendered Impacts of Climate Change presents the voices of women from every continent, women who face vastly different climate events and challenges. The book heralds a new way of understanding climate change that incorporates gender justice and human rights for all.

Social policy scholars and practitioners have long employed concepts such as "welfare state" and "social security"--but where do these concepts come from and how has their meaning changed over time? What characterizes social policy language in different places, and how do some social concepts travel between them? Addressing such questions in a systematic manner, the contributors to this collection analyze the concepts and language used to describe contemporary social policy. Combining detailed chapters on particular countries with broader comparative chapters, the book offers a variety of perspectives on just what we mean when we use these terms.

In the contemporary global context replete with various forms of development crises, there is a growing demand for an alternative perspective. Haque explains the nature and forms of these current development crises, critiques the inadequacies of existing development theories to address such crises, restructures these theories into an alternative theoretical perspective, and suggests specific policy guidelines for attaining a genuine mode of development. He interprets development not as human conformity with any hegemonic development schemes, but as human autonomy from various forms and levels of subjugation. The book presents original arguments, covers up-to-date literature, adopts a multidisciplinary approach, mediates between theories and policies, and offers a comprehensive development alternative.

Challenging widely held beliefs, this provocative book offers nothing less than a blueprint for enhancing the social and economic status of African American families. Despite the implementation of liberal social policies in the 1960s and '70s, successive U.S. administrations continue to dash the hopes and expectations of African Americans, who remain subject to racism and discrimination. Arguing that social policies—and their absence—have affected the stability of the African American family, Jewell refutes the myth of significant progress for African American families emanating from the civil rights era, exposing the myriad reasons why greater advancement toward equality has not occurred in major societal institutions. Attention is focused on the extent to which African American families have been adversely affected by a process of assimilation that was socio-psychological rather than economic. This new edition builds upon the first edition, and is revised and expanded to reflect new and persistent institutional policies and practices of race, gender and class inequality facing African American families. The revised edition explores such issues as racial profiling, capital punishment, police brutality, predatory lending, No Child Left Behind, welfare reform, affirmative action and racial disparities in healthcare, academic achievement and home ownership. Jewell proposes a variety of strategies and policies that are needed to ensure greater social and economic equality and justice for African American families.