Overview

The Oxford Handbook of Social Welfare in the Global South offers a critical examination of social protection systems across the Global South, interrogating their role in addressing inequality, mitigating crises, and fostering transformative development. Structured around three core themes--equity, resilience, and systemic change--the volume explores how social protection policies are designed, contested, and reconfigured in diverse political and economic contexts. Moving beyond technocratic assessments, it situates social protection within broader struggles over rights, governance, and social justice, revealing both the promises and limitations of these systems in an era of compounding global challenges.This handbook bring together leading scholars and practitioners to dissect the interplay between social protection and development across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. Contributions interrogate how cash transfers, healthcare reforms, and labor policies function as instruments of both stability and exclusion, while probing the political tensions that shape their expansion or retrenchment. Case studies-from South Africa's contested welfare reforms to Thailand's rapid scaling of universal child grants-demonstrate how institutional legacies, advocacy coalitions, and crises reshape policy trajectories. At the same time, the volume highlights persistent gaps in coverage, particularly for informal workers, women, and displaced populations, arguing for rights-based approaches that transcend temporary fixes.Pushing the debate on social protection in bold new directions, this volume challenges conventional assumptions about targeting, conditionality, and fiscal sustainability while foregrounding questions of power, participation, and historical contingency. Taken together, the volume not only maps the current landscape of social protection but also redefines its future-as a dynamic field of governance, a site of political struggle, and a potential catalyst for more inclusive futures.

Full Product Details

Author:   Anis Ben Brik (Associate Professor of Public Policy, Associate Professor of Public Policy, Hamad Bin Khalifa University)
Publisher:   Oxford University Press Inc
Imprint:   Oxford University Press Inc
ISBN:  

9780197761465

ISBN 10:   0197761461
Pages:   666
Publication Date:   02 March 2026
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  College/higher education ,  Professional & Vocational ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   To order  
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Table of Contents

Acknowledgements Preface Introduction Unpacking Social Protection in the Global South Section I Social Protection Systems and Policy Reforms Chapter 1 China's Social Protection System and Reform Chapter 2 Social Protection in Indonesia Chapter 3 Social Protection Coverage Gaps in Malaysia Chapter 4 Comprehensive Social Protection as an Enabler of Complex Developmental Synergies in South Africa Chapter 5 Beyond Social Protection: Zimbabwe's Land Reform as Transformative Social Policy Section II Politics of Social Protection in the Global South Chapter 6 Securitized Digital Governance, Cash Transfers, and the Expansion of Social Protection in Pakistan: Covid-19 and the Ehsas Emergency Cash Program Chapter 7 State Capacity and Social Policy Development in Iran Chapter 8 The Road to Universality: The Role of Advocacy and Evidence in Realising Thailand's Child Support Grant Chapter 9 Social Protection and Federalism in Times of COVID-19: A Case Study of Brazil Chapter 10 Making the 'Invisible' Visible: Systemtic Exclusion from Social Protection in Latin America Chapter 11 Family Norms in Conditional Cash Transfers: Lessons from Latin America and the Caribbean Section III Social Protection in Times of Crisis Chapter 12 Social Protection and the Impact of the Pandemic in a Conflict Country: The Case of Social Protection in Afghanistan Chapter 13 Market Functionalities and Swinging Preferences of Emergency Cash Transfer Beneficiaries in Malawi: An Analysis of Factors Influencing Choice between Cash and Food Chapter 14 Entitlement in Times of Crisis: Disproportionate Consequences and Public Support for Social Protection in South Africa Chapter 15 Social Protection in Fragile and Crisis Countries in the Arab region and the Covid-19 Response Chapter 16 Rethinking Social Protection for Vulnerable Youth in Bangladesh, Ethiopia and Lebanon in the Context of Covid-19 Chapter 17 Social Protection Systems in Ghana in an Era of Covid-19: Challenges and Adaptations for Livelihood Security and Social Policy Section IV Social Protection Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic Chapter 18 How Have the Social Protection Systems in Latin America and the Caribbean Responded to the COVID-19 Crisis? Chapter 19 Social Protection and Social Cohesion in Nigeria during Democratic Rule,1999-2023 Chapter 20 Emerging State Social Protection Approaches in Ghana in the Wake of COVID-19 Chapter 21 Rethinking the Transformative Role of Social Policy: Critical insights on Zimbabwe's Responses to the Covid-19 Pandemic Chapter 23 Strengthening Social Protection for Covid-19 Pandemic Response: The Case of Mauritius Chapter 24 Social Protection and Labor Market Responses to COVID 19 Pandemic in Saudi Arabia Chapter 25 Multidimensional Poverty and Covid-19 in Chile: Social Protection to Mitigate its Impacts Section V Social protection and welfare in the Global South Chapter 26 Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation in the Arab region Chapter 27 Social Protection and Healthcare Services in Africa: The Collapse of a Community-Based Health Insurance Programme in Rural Nigeria Chapter 28 The Institutionalization of Underpaid Community Healthcare Giving in the National Health Insurance Policy: Reflecting on the Experiences of Community Health Workers in Tshwane District Chapter 29 Social Protection for Better Health in Arab Countries Chapter 30 Welfare and Social Protection in Mexico Chapter 31 Investigating Social Security and Quality of Life of Stone Crusher Workers in India Section VI Social Welfare in Flux: Future of Social Protection in the Global South Index

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Author Information

Anis Ben Brik is Associate Professor of Public Policy at the College of Public Policy, Hamad Bin Khalifa University. His research focuses on the political economy of welfare systems, the institutionalization of evaluation, and governance reform in rentier states, the MENA region and Global South contexts. His recent books include Social Welfare in Qatar (Springer, 2025), Public Policy in the Arab World (Edward Elgar, 2024), and The Institutionalization of Evaluation in the Middle East and North Africa (Edward Elgar, 2025).

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