TY - JOUR
T1 - Serving the public or delivering public services? Religion and social welfare in the new British social policy landscape
AU - Jawad, Rana
PY - 2012/2
Y1 - 2012/2
N2 - Religion appears as a dormant actor in British social policy, yet since the early 1990s its role in public service provision has become more prominent. What can a religious perspective bring to our understanding of human wellbeing - especially as the idea of the Big Society opens up new normative landscapes? In response, this article outlines some policy and practice issues, namely that religious welfare provision: is key to a more historically accurate account of British social policy; challenges utilitarian notions of wellbeing; is a potentially good example of the Big Society; and is able to reconcile its secular public service provision role with its religious identity and mission to serve the public.
AB - Religion appears as a dormant actor in British social policy, yet since the early 1990s its role in public service provision has become more prominent. What can a religious perspective bring to our understanding of human wellbeing - especially as the idea of the Big Society opens up new normative landscapes? In response, this article outlines some policy and practice issues, namely that religious welfare provision: is key to a more historically accurate account of British social policy; challenges utilitarian notions of wellbeing; is a potentially good example of the Big Society; and is able to reconcile its secular public service provision role with its religious identity and mission to serve the public.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84873917914&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1332/175982712X626770
U2 - 10.1332/175982712X626770
DO - 10.1332/175982712X626770
M3 - Article
VL - 20
SP - 55
EP - 68
JO - Journal of Poverty and Social Justice
JF - Journal of Poverty and Social Justice
SN - 1759-8273
IS - 1
ER -