The Middle East

This chapter asserts that the study of social policy and social welfare action is an academically viable and politically urgent endeavour for the Middle East. It suggests a historical overview of the key forces that have shaped social policy in the region. The chapter looks at the existing theoretical approaches to the study of social policy or rather public policy in the region and role of religion and its influence on social policy in both state and non-state forms. It discusses the uses of welfare regime classifications and how elements of these approaches may be used for analysing social policy in the Middle East. The chapter synthesizes this discussion by proposing possible classifications of social policy in the countries of the region. It argues that a social policy perspective helps in understanding the shortcomings of the traditional 'growth first' approach in development policy, whereby social concerns are relegated to a secondary role or treated as residual outcomes of economic production.