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- Author or Editor: Susan M. Hodgson x
The idea of policy is ripe for critical reappraisal. Whilst the context for policy making changes constantly, multiple questions endure, such as how policy is conceived and why; what is taken for granted and what gets problematised; and how policy should be informed, analysed and understood.
This book identifies key topics within the policy arena and subjects them to theoretical and practical analysis. It explores the meaning and framing of policy, and examines its practice from the micro- to the supra-national levels, using illustrative case studies to demonstrate how policy is contested, shaped and accounted for. Given the significance of policy as a means to organise and direct social, economic and political life, this book presents the case for a critical restatement of its origins, development and form - without which we risk being caught up in a cycle of change without understanding why or how.
The book presents a productive encounter between the three themes of meanings, politics and practices, themes normally not brought together in a single text. It emphasizes the multiplicity of perspectives that can be directed towards understanding the policy world, opening up new ground as well as visiting anew some familiar terrain. Targeted at upper undergraduate and postgraduate students and their teachers, it will also be of interest to researchers and policy actors wanting insight to their project.
What counts as an environmental problem changes over time. Yet few would deny that current environmental challenges are many. In this chapter we aim to provide an overview of major environmental challenges of direct relevance to students and researchers in the social sciences. The primary focus is on global climate change, as many other challenges relate, directly or indirectly, to this issue. For example, concerns about biological diversity can arise directly from the destruction of habitats; habitat destruction, however, could be the result of land management policies aimed at increasing the production of plant stuffs to make biofuel (an alternative to fossil fuels). At the same time, the shift towards biofuels has led to food production problems: for example, land is being used to farm plants for fuel rather than plants for food, thereby affecting food supplies and costs. Also, climate change effects result in some crops becoming no longer suitable for certain environments. Thus, a wide range of environmental issues is actually intertwined and forms a complex web of concerns. Additionally, matters of the environment and socio-political concerns are rarely easy to separate and what may look like a potential technical or social solution to an environmental problem may reinforce existing, or create new, environmental and social problems.
The Earth’s temperature has not been constant in the past. Indeed our planet has gone through several periods of global cooling and global warming as it has moved in and out of what we call ‘ice ages’. Why, then, is so much attention being paid now to the phenomenon of global warming if it is something that has happened before? This is because some of the warming that is taking place now is believed to have different causes from previous warmings; it is what the textbooks call ‘anthropogenic’, which means it has been caused primarily by human activity, unlike previous global temperature shifts which were due entirely to natural causes.
This chapter synthesises the standpoints and conclusions which foreground recurrent themes and overarching ideas in order to assess the implications of this critical exploration of policy for future policy studies which problematises territories and boundaries, revisits the ‘how’ of policy making, and emerges from a changing world. It also discusses the implications for the teaching of ‘policy’ and the training of social researchers, including welfare professionals, as they are important keys to ensuring the future of critical policy thinkers. Discussions in this chapter include: what counts as a social policy?; the changing knowledge and evidence on the contexts and processes of policy; the methodological issues and instruments concerning policy; the place of values in research and policy; and the emergence of inherent circularity implied by the generation of knowledge to inform policy, policy outputs, policy evaluation, and further calls for knowledge and evidence.
Policy serves as a crucial and practical framework for the expression of political messages and the achievement of social goals. The use of policy as a governmental instrument is significant in the maintenance and continuance of social, political, and economic relationships: 1) between states, states and citizens, providers and users of services; and 2) within states and within organisations. But policy is also a non-governmental construct and practice, as contributions to the ‘policy studies’ literature have argued and explored. This chapter begins with some discussion of intellectual divides as it provides insight into the artificiality of these divisions and is crucial to the understanding of why the exploration of policy provides a vehicle for reconciliation. The chapter also presents an account of the transformations in the policy landscape, which requires the reinspection of established frameworks of understanding and explanation. The chapter also considers the extent to which an altered policy terrain has overlapped with movement in the more abstract realm of knowledge production. Final discussions of this introductory chapter focus on the structure of the book and its role in reconsidering policy.
The idea of policy is ripe for critical reappraisal. Whilst the context for policy making changes constantly, multiple questions endure, such as how policy is conceived and why; what is taken for granted and what gets problematised; and how policy should be informed, analysed, and understood. This book identifies key topics within the policy arena and subjects them to theoretical and practical analysis. It explores the meaning and framing of policy, and examines its practice from the micro- to the supra-national levels, using illustrative case studies to demonstrate how policy is contested, shaped, and accounted for. Given the significance of policy as a means to organise and direct social, economic, and political life, this book presents the case for a critical restatement of its origins, development, and form — without which we risk being caught up in a cycle of change without understanding why or how. The book presents a productive encounter between the three themes of meanings, politics, and practices, themes normally not brought together in a single text. It emphasizes the multiplicity of perspectives that can be directed towards understanding the policy world, opening up new ground as well as visiting anew some familiar terrain.
The idea of policy is ripe for critical reappraisal. Whilst the context for policy making changes constantly, multiple questions endure, such as how policy is conceived and why; what is taken for granted and what gets problematised; and how policy should be informed, analysed, and understood. This book identifies key topics within the policy arena and subjects them to theoretical and practical analysis. It explores the meaning and framing of policy, and examines its practice from the micro- to the supra-national levels, using illustrative case studies to demonstrate how policy is contested, shaped, and accounted for. Given the significance of policy as a means to organise and direct social, economic, and political life, this book presents the case for a critical restatement of its origins, development, and form — without which we risk being caught up in a cycle of change without understanding why or how. The book presents a productive encounter between the three themes of meanings, politics, and practices, themes normally not brought together in a single text. It emphasizes the multiplicity of perspectives that can be directed towards understanding the policy world, opening up new ground as well as visiting anew some familiar terrain.
The idea of policy is ripe for critical reappraisal. Whilst the context for policy making changes constantly, multiple questions endure, such as how policy is conceived and why; what is taken for granted and what gets problematised; and how policy should be informed, analysed, and understood. This book identifies key topics within the policy arena and subjects them to theoretical and practical analysis. It explores the meaning and framing of policy, and examines its practice from the micro- to the supra-national levels, using illustrative case studies to demonstrate how policy is contested, shaped, and accounted for. Given the significance of policy as a means to organise and direct social, economic, and political life, this book presents the case for a critical restatement of its origins, development, and form — without which we risk being caught up in a cycle of change without understanding why or how. The book presents a productive encounter between the three themes of meanings, politics, and practices, themes normally not brought together in a single text. It emphasizes the multiplicity of perspectives that can be directed towards understanding the policy world, opening up new ground as well as visiting anew some familiar terrain.
