Overview

Exploring the lived realities of both poverty and prosperity in the UK, this book examines the material and symbolic significance of welfare austerity and its implications for social citizenship and inequality. The book offers a rare and vivid insight into the everyday lives, attitudes and behaviours of the rich as well as the poor, demonstrating how those marginalised and validated by the existing welfare system make sense of the prevailing socio-political settlement and their own position within it. Through the testimonies of both affluent and deprived citizens, the book problematises dominant policy thinking surrounding the functions and limits of welfare, examining the civic attitudes and engagements of the rich and the poor, to demonstrate how welfare austerity and rising structural inequalities secure and maintain institutional legitimacy. The book offers a timely contribution to academic and policy debates pertaining to citizenship, welfare reform and inequality.

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9781447355588

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Scary but crucial reading. Edmiston's analysis of lived narratives shows how policy framing the poor as `bad' and the rich as `good' shape public attitudes towards poverty and inequality. Louise Humpage, Associate Professor, Sociology, University of Auckland A must read for anyone interested in inequality and social citizenship, this book provides a careful - but damning - assessment of current policies and politics. Tracy Shildrick, University of Newcastle Through rigorous empirical fieldwork and informed theorising this excellent book explores how lived experiences of inequality generate particular forms of knowledge, understanding and action among affluent and disadvantaged citizens. Peter Dwyer, University of York

Author Information

Dr Daniel Edmiston is a lecturer in Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Leeds. He holds a PhD in Sociology and Social Policy and has previously worked for the Economic and Social Research Council; Prime Minister's Strategy Unit; and the University of Oxford. His research interests include poverty and inequality, comparative welfare reform, welfare state futures, and the political economy of social citizenship.

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