This article outlines the findings of a new study that explores the portrayal of disability within a sample of the primary-age children's literature most readily available to UK schools. The kind of literature to which children are exposed is likely to influence their general perceptions of social life. How disability is handled by authors is therefore important from the standpoint of disability equality. Findings suggest that whilst there are some good examples of inclusive literature 'out there', discriminatory language and/or negative stereotypes about disability continue to be present in a range of more contemporary children's books. Clearly, more still needs to be done to ensure that schools and teachers are provided with information relating to the best examples of inclusion literature and efforts must continue to be made to inform authors, publishers and illustrators about how to approach the issue of disability.
This paper explores current thinking about policy learning and transfer, using recent work on the 'Americanization' of UK active labour market policies as a focus of discussion. While it is clear that the UK has learned from the US in certain respects, academic debates about the US-UK policy relationship are marked by accounts of learning and transfer that depend on a highly rational interpretation of these processes. The paper reviews current debates in the policy transfer literature and applies a critical view of policy learning and transfer to key accounts of labour market activation policies before moving on to consider how useful the concept of policy transfer really is in an increasingly complex, plural and 'de-institutionalising' world.
Current debates about the respective merits of universalist and particularist approaches to welfare suggest that contemporary welfare theory has reached an impasse. Following an examination of recent attempts to discuss the respective merits of universalist and particularist claims, this article argues that, in an increasingly pluralist social and political environment characterized by shifting identities and solidarities, we need to embrace ‘difference’ more forthrightly if allocations of social goods and services are to be judged legitimate by service users and providers alike. To this end, and in an effort to push beyond the universalist–particularist divide, we need to take greater account of ‘postmodern’ understandings of contemporary social politics, not because these should be accepted entirely, but because it is important to claim their utility for decentralized, ‘deliberative’ conceptions of social politics. Deliberative processes, particularly where accompanied by a ‘politics of presence’ can better legitimate particularist patterns of resource distribution, paradoxically fostering greater social inclusion, in a rapidly changing world.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.