Ping‐pong poms: emotional reflexivity in contemporary return migration from Australia to the United Kingdom

About 20,000 people from the United Kingdom emigrate to Australia each year. Of these, a significant number return to the United Kingdom, and some return again to Australia. Studies of such patterns of migration and return (and return again) were quite common a few decades ago, but are now rare. This paper makes use of a contemporary data source – an Internet‐mediated discussion forum – to explore the experiences of modern ‘ping‐pong poms’. A picture emerges of these migrants as exercising emotional reflexivity in dealing with the pull of family left behind, ‘homesickness’, the lack of a sense of belonging and their often‐disappointed dreams of a ‘better life’. By understanding the importance of emotions in people's decisions about return migration, policy can better attend to the realities of more mobile lives.     

Globalisation and the Politics of Persuasion and Coercion

This paper argues that an economic liberal discourse of globalisation has been pivotal to the policy‐making process in Australia over the past 15 or so years. Both Labor and Coalition Governments have aimed to restrict the electoral fall‐out from the process of restructuring by persuading Australians that the world economy has forced particular policy changes and made alternative economic policy choices unviable. Policy‐makers act to influence conceptions of the appropriate role and responsibilities of the state through persuasion – the rhetoric they speak – and coercion – the policies they make. The pervasiveness of globalisation rhetoric in the public sphere has been essential to the governing process as a complement to and buffer for the coercive impact of economic liberal policy changes. As Australia has shifted from a protectionist to an economically liberal policy structure, the effects of globalisation have become clearer. Liberalisation has intensified pressures from the world political economy and coerced changes in all areas of policy and the economy, as well as in public perceptions about the ‘limits of government’. Globalisation and economic liberalism as persuasion and coercion are the component parts of a restructured system of political and economic governance: a paradigmatic shift away from the economic protectionism of the first 80 years of Australian federalism.     

From Enlightened Self‐interest to Welfare Coalitions: Overcoming Identity‐based Tensions in the Israeli Welfare State

A common argument in the social policy literature is that ethnic and identity‐based heterogeneity undermines the welfare state. In part, this happens because of difficulties in the generation of broad social solidarity in diverse societies: solidarity which is allegedly necessary for sustaining public support for the welfare state. This study explores this argument's logic in the context of welfare state politics in Israel. Israel would appear to be a near‐perfect example of how heterogeneity strains social solidarity and, in turn, undermines the welfare state. Quite differently from most studies, however, this work's emphasis is not on public attitudes or voting, but on the political interaction between economically disadvantaged identity‐based minorities – specifically Arabs on the one hand and religious Jews on the other – in the welfare field. It is argued that shared interests enable extensive co‐operation among political elites in the welfare field despite religiously‐ and nationally‐based antagonism.     

Externalizing an ‘Asset Model’ of Activation: Creative Institutional Work by Frontline Workers in the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Service

The past two decades have brought significant shifts in Norwegian activation policy towards a joined‐up and employability‐enhancing approach to labour market inclusion in order to promote return‐to‐work despite health problems or disabilities. Utilizing a concept from health promotion, we term this approach an ‘asset model’ of activation. The Norwegian Labour and Welfare Service (NAV) and its local offices are the main agents implementing the new policy. This article aims to investigate the strategies that the frontline workers of NAV engage in, in order to externalize an ‘asset model’ in the adjacent medical field and to the general practitioners (GPs) in particular. We analyze these strategies as forms of creative institutional work – the purposive actions undertaken to change existing presumptions and opinions among relevant actors. We argue that although the new activation policy is not theirs to develop, in order to bring about changes in practice, ‘creating’ institutional work by the frontline workers is required. Our findings show that the frontline workers develop strategies in order to externalize an asset model to the GPs, as part of operationalizing an ‘activation’ reform into practice. We identify four forms of ‘creating’ institutional work undertaken by the frontline workers: ‘defining’ – enacting legislation and regulation in relation to GPs; ‘constructing normative networks’ – creating a more collaborative relationship with the GPs; ‘educating’ – teaching the GPs about the rules and regulations, and the opportunities and assistive measures they can offer to the injured; and thereby also ‘changing normative associations’ of GPs towards the activation policy.     

Social inclusion under Labor in South Australia

Social inclusion policies were championed by the former Rann Labor government in South Australia from 2002 to 2011. In 2011 the Social Inclusion Unit was dissolved by the South Australian government. It is argued that the relatively narrow focus of the former SIU on ‘problem’ communities limited its capacity to provide more than residual solutions. The diminishing political returns on social inclusion also encouraged the South Australian government to abandon this initiative. In 2014 this government has had to grapple with the end of car making in Australia and a declining manufacturing labour force, traditionally a ‘mainstream’ constituency of the Labor Party. The return to ‘mainstreaming’ social policy in South Australia might offer limited space for realignment of social policy with the concept of social citizenship. It might also represent a move away from the functionalist morality of social inclusion. Social inclusion as practiced in South Australia has limited capacity to address generalised social disadvantage. The latter is likely to concern a re‐elected Labor minority government grappling with significant job losses and a declining local economy.     

Redefining the 'Rural Question': The New 'Politics of the Rural' and Social Policy

Politics in the countryside has undergone a significant shift in emphasis in recent decades, which may be characterized as a transition from ‘rural politics’ to ‘a politics of the rural’. Whereas ‘rural politics’ refers broadly to politics located in rural space, or relating to ‘rural issues’, the ‘politics of the rural’ is defined by the centrality of the meaning and regulation of rurality itself as the primary focus of conflict and debate. However, far from marginalizing social issues – as early work on the new rural conflicts by Mormont implied – the paper argues that the new politics of the rural has liberated rural social policy from the shadow of agricultural policy, providing a new language and context through which rural social issues can be placed on the political agenda. Three examples of this are discussed, drawing on illustrations from Britain, Australia, New Zealand and North America – conflicts over the rationalization of public and commercial services in rural communities; campaigns around the closure of rural schools and their symbolic place at the heart of rural communities; and issues of difference and discrimination in the countryside, including responses to travellers and asylum‐seekers.     

The 'Dole or Drudgery' Dilemma: Education, the Work Ethic and Unemployment

Before the recession, Labour ministers claimed that much unemployment in the UK was voluntary. While social policy authors have repeatedly countered such claims by stressing that unemployed people generally possess a strong work ethic and employment commitment, their accounts typically neglect the role that choosiness in job search behaviour plays in deciding individuals' employment status. Fifty in‐depth interviews with both unemployed and employed respondents exposed considerable diversity in attitudes towards ‘dole’ (being unemployed and claiming unemployment benefits) and ‘drudgery’ (doing less attractive jobs). The more educated were more likely to prefer ‘dole’ to ‘drudgery’ (this was also found using National Child Development Study survey data), yet they usually found jobs despite their greater choosiness. Those with very low educational attainment often desperately wanted jobs but could not find them due to their low employability – which might offer an explanation for the often replicated (yet paradoxical) finding that unemployed people generally exhibit a strong work ethic and pro‐employment attitudes and behaviours. Furthermore, the findings indicate that the scope for many Jobseeker's Allowance claimants to increase their net income by undertaking an unattractive job is greater than social policy authors often imply. The question of ‘who must do the least attractive jobs?’ has been neglected by both social policy academics and policy‐makers.     

Isolation and Insecurity: Resettlement Issues Among Muslim Refugee Women in Perth,Western Australia

Refugee Muslim women face a number of formidable obstacles in the resettlement process within Australia. As Muslims, they are a religious minority that has come under considerable racial attack in recent years in the wake of international terrorism. As refugees, they are struggling to put past traumas behind them and find ‘security’ in a strange land with different customs. As women, they are trying to find a voice for themselves amidst ethnic traditions that limit their range of expression and an Australian society that aspires to, but has not yet achieved, equality for women. Our qualitative study, upon which this paper is based, explored resettlement issues of Muslim refugee women during their first five years of arrival in Perth, Australia. It is based on focus groups and semi‐structured interviews with 80 Muslim refugee women: 35 Iraqi, 34 Sudanese and 11 Afghan. Our study re‐affirms that well‐documented issues of resettlement continue to be poor English language competency, securing employment and accommodation and gender‐specific problems. In addition, however, our study highlights a new and emerging issue, which is that of personal, psychological and cultural insecurity, heightened by the current political climate and exacerbated by their religious background. This leads to problematic ‘intersections’ with an Australian society that is far more complex and more difficult to cope with than is portrayed in popular discourse and political rhetoric of the easy‐going ‘lucky country’.     

Problematising Australia's Nanny Pilot Program as evidence‐based policy: A reconstruction of the problem of childcare

In a notable departure from long‐standing childcare policy in Australia, in January 2016 fee relief was extended to nannies providing in‐home care in a 2‐year pilot program. This policy is significant as fee relief is not tied to the meeting of regulatory requirements designed to ensure quality early learning and care for young children. Drawing on Carol Bacchi's approach to policy analysis, this paper extends previous problematising of evidence‐based policy by highlighting the value of first considering how a policy ‘problem’ has been constructed. We propose that the nanny pilot is an ideologically driven policy that has emanated from a construction of childcare that is adult (parent)‐centred and marginalises the needs and interests of young children. Accordingly, certain evidence is privileged while other evidence is ignored, with the ensuing policy focused on economic imperatives rather than quality early learning and care experiences for young children. We draw on an analysis of parent, peak body and researcher submissions to the Productivity Commission's 2013–2014 childcare inquiry, nanny‐focused research, and data from three national surveys to explore the limitations of such a policy approach. The utility of problem reconstruction as a means of disrupting policy‐informed evidence and the legitimisation of purported evidence‐based policy is considered.     

Identity and Government Funding in Christian Nonprofits*

Objectives. This article aims to understand if and how the expressed religious identity of Christian nonprofit organizations varies between those receiving and not receiving government funding and whether there is evidence that government funding produces such differences. Methods. I utilize a content analysis of narratives provided on tax forms of 1,900 of the largest national and international Christian nonprofits based in the United States. Results. Christian nonprofits receiving government funding are less likely to express a religious identity and tend to use more inclusive language when doing so. However, receiving government funding does not seem to be the direct cause of changes in expressed religious identity. Conclusions. Differences in expressed religious identity might better be understood as the result of long‐term changes that both alter the organization's identity and makes it more likely to acquire government funding.     

Understanding Social Inclusion and Its Meaning for Australia

This paper considers the various meanings of ‘social inclusion’ from both sociological and policy viewpoints. It shows how the perspective has been translated into particular policies and approaches to governance. After drawing some lessons from the policy experiences of other countries, it weighs the appropriateness of a ‘social inclusion agenda’ for Australia, a country with a particular history of social exclusion – of prisoners, indigenous people, and immigrants from around the world – and a special emphasis on dignity, respect and equal treatment.     

Religiosity,citizenship and attitudes to social policy issues

Many social policy objectives align with religious beliefs – poverty alleviation, compassion for the poor and addressing more generally the needs of the vulnerable and disadvantaged in society. Yet there are also conflicting views about means, including the role of the state in redistributing resources from the rich and powerful to the poor and powerless. Redistribution and poverty alleviation are central goals of the welfare state, although ideological and other differences mean that views about the need for, as well as the design, delivery and impact of social programs vary. Against this background, this paper reviews existing national and international studies that have examined how religious belief and practice are associated with the attitudes that underpin the welfare state: compassion, altruism, redistribution and egalitarianism, and the activities that are assumed to align with modern conceptions of ‘a good civic citizen‘: participation and engagement. The analysis draws on recent Australian survey data to examine whether the attitudes of those who actively practice their religious beliefs differ from other groups in society and, if so, whether those differences are consistent with the underlying goals of social policy.     

THE RUSH TO REGULATE: THE SHIFT IN AUSTRALIA FROM THE RULE OF MARKETS TO THE RULE OF CAPITAL

There has been a significant shift in the momentum of national economic policy in Australia, from the market as an end in itself, towards a regulated policy agenda that asserts the social, cultural and economic rule of capital. This ‘new’ policy is what neo‐liberalism really involves. Arguments about ‘free markets’ and ‘economic rationalism’ fail to recognise the shift and are thus not germane to current policy analysis.     

Towards Understanding Variations in Social Care for Older People in England

Indicators of the public provision of old age social care are routinely recorded in England and have been used for diverse purposes including performance monitoring. Despite long‐term policy guidance promoting more homogeneous service provision, large variations can still be observed between local authorities (the providers of state‐funded social care). Our aim is to better understand such variations in a small selection of key aggregate indicators. Drawing on multiple data sources and pursuing a two‐step strategy, we first assess the explanatory power of a set of structural predictors and then add to the models a set of specific care management ‘process’ predictors. We find that structural factors beyond the control of local authorities explain a considerable share of the observable variation. The additional explanatory power of care management characteristics is small in comparison. Therefore, our findings suggest that caution must be taken when aggregate indicators of service provision are used for performance monitoring purposes, as a degree of autonomy over outcomes may be implied which in light of the empirical evidence is unrealistic. Past attempts to influence the aggregate pattern of service provision – apparently seeking greater ‘territorial justice’– are likely to have had adverse implications for service users and the uniformity of service delivery across England. Questions are raised about the adequate role of central government in a policy environment characterized by longstanding local government responsibility.     

Garbage‐can Policy‐making Meets Neo‐liberal Ideology: Twenty Five Years of Redundant Reform of the English National Health Service

The garbage‐can theory of decision‐making (Cohen et al. 1972), has been adapted into a perspective on policy‐making, with adaptations of the approach placing notable emphasis upon the health sector (Kingdon 2006; Paton 2006). This article creates an adapted ‘garbage‐can’ framework to help explain each stage of the reform of the English National Health Service (NHS) over the last 25 years. The emergence of the key idea and resultant policy at each stage of reform of the English NHS has been arational and indeed sometimes irrational. Policy has reflected advocacy by policy‐salesmen (Kingdon 2002), proffering ‘solutions’ to ill‐defined problems and answers to unasked questions, and politicians' short‐termist responses at each decision‐point. Yet the garbage‐can alone is not enough: if arationality rules in policy‐making day to day, this does not mean that there is not an overall ideological context, trend or bias in reform. The article also posits that ‘market reform’ has derived from the ideological hegemony of a naive anti‐statism (hostility to a misleadingly defined and often mythological ‘centralist state’) in public services and enthusiasm for market competition rather than any evidence‐based application of pro‐market ideas to health policy. A question arises: how are these two approaches (short‐term arationality and longer‐term ideological bias) combined in explanation of how policy over time is biased in a particular direction while seemingly arbitrary and directionless at each messy decision‐point. The article attempts to combine the insights of a garbage‐can approach with wider explanations of ideological hegemony.     

Public Policy and Inequalities of Choice and Autonomy

Choice by service users has been promoted in social policy across many developed welfare states, often on the grounds that it will incentivize providers to enhance quality and efficiency. But this instrumental motivation for the promotion of choice overlooks the possibility that choice, understood in the deeper sense of autonomy, has intrinsic value, as suggested by egalitarian and capability‐based theories of social justice. This article argues that the narrow motivation of choice policies leads to a focus on services rather than outcomes for individuals and fails to address deep‐seated inequalities in the opportunities people have for real autonomy. We test this concept using newly collected data for the UK. Our empirical findings indicate that disabled people are more likely to experience constrained autonomy in all respects, while being from a low socio‐economic group and/or lacking educational qualifications is a risk factor across several components. We conclude that improving the ‘choice’ agenda for policy requires: (1) adopting a more sophisticated concept of ‘choice’ such as the conceptualization of ‘choice as autonomy’ outlined here; (2) developing a better understanding of existing inequalities in autonomy, such as we begin to explore in our empirical results; and (3) tackling these inequalities through, for example, the removal of obstacles to active decision‐making by providing effective support and advocacy, especially for disabled people, and addressing the major structural barriers – poverty, ill health and geographical inequality – which place significant restrictions on the autonomy of those who are already disadvantaged.     

The social inclusion policy agenda in Australia: a case of old wine,new bottles?

The election of an Australian Labor Government in Australia in 2007 saw ‘social inclusion’ emerge as the official and overarching social policy agenda. Being ‘included’ was subsequently defined by the ALP Government as being able to ‘have the resources, opportunities and capabilities needed to learn, work, engage and have a voice‘. Various researchers in Australia demonstrated an interest in social inclusion, as it enabled them to construct a multi‐dimensional framework for measuring disadvantage. This research program resulted in various forms of statistical modelling based on some agreement about what it means to be included in society. The multi‐dimensional approach taken by academic researchers, however, did not necessarily translate to a new model of social policy development or implementation. We argue that, similar to the experience of the UK, Australia's social inclusion policy agenda was for the most part narrowly and individually defined by politicians and policy makers, particularly in terms of equating being employed with being included. We conclude with discussion about the need to strengthen the social inclusion framework by adopting an understanding of social inequality and social justice that is more relational and less categorical.     

THE INTELLECTUAL ORIGINS OF ‘WELFARE DEPENDENCY’

‘Welfare dependency’ has become a key term in policy debate in the United States and, more recently, Australia. In this article I explore the intellectual origins of the term, looking specifically at the writings of George Gilder and Charles Murray, two commentators whose (often polemically presented) ideas were influential within the Reagan Administration and have been at the forefront of a conservative renewal in welfare debate generally. Although others have subsequently refined some of their arguments and proposals, the authors' central claim that welfare causes dependency and thus unemployment and poverty – and that welfare reform therefore needs to focus on changing the behaviour of welfare recipients rather than providing employment opportunities – has had a lasting political impact, in Australia as much as in the US.     

The Politics of Social Policy Language

A number of scholars have recently shown that key social policy concepts like ‘welfare state’ are both vague and problematic. Drawing on the international literature on the role of ideas in social policy, this article compares the development of two major policy concepts in two countries where the language of social policy is openly contentious: the USA and France. Focusing on the last three decades, the article discusses the meaning and development of the concepts of ‘social security’/‘sécurité sociale’ and ‘welfare state’/‘État‐providence’ in both countries. As suggested, these two concepts have long been controversial, in part because they are typically involved in the inherently political drawing and redrawing of the contested boundaries of state action. Overall, the article explains how the comparative analysis of social policy language can help scholars adopt a more reflexive approach.