Social Investment and Social Welfare: International and Critical Perspectives

This book contributes to the growing literature on social investment by discussing the way social investment ideas have been adopted in different countries and in various academic and professional fields, including social policy, development studies and non-profit management. Documenting the experience of implementing social investment in different communities, it encourages a One World perspective that integrates these diverse experiences and promotes policy learning between different nations. This book fills a major gap in the literature, which, in the past, has focused largely on European welfare states and their employment and educational policies. Contrary to the view that social investment is a new stage in the development of these welfare states, it shows that social investment has been endorsed in other countries and in different policy fields for many years, including housing, child welfare, community development, social protection and rural development. The contribution to social investment by international development organizations such as the United Nations, World Bank and International Labour Organization are discussed, specifically looking at how they have encouraged the application of social investment policies in development. This book is primarily targeted at an academic readership that has become increasingly interested in social investment ideas in recent years. However, it will also be a useful resource for post-graduate and upper-level undergraduate students in social development, development studies, sociology, social policy, social work and public policy.