13 - Conclusion

Summary

Famously, at the start of the Communist Manifesto in 1848, Marx observed ‘all that is solid melts into air’. While many may criticise some elements of the Manifesto, or even disagree with the underpinning sentiments, few can argue with Marx's observation that our social, political and economic worlds are in constant change. It is tempting to think of welfare as having a monolithic permanence within our world that is ever-present and unchanging. However, this book further reinforces the fact that welfare is an ever-changing entity that is shaped by the political vagaries of governments and has at many times been used as a method of gaining political capital. In this respect, welfare has been shown to focus on meeting the needs we cannot meet ourselves, such as health, housing, social care and education. However, this also goes beyond the boundaries of personal benefits to also recognise the social benefits of welfare and the social outcomes of citizenship and inclusion.

Similarly, the book has demonstrated the changing nature of society and our social relations. We live in a time when there is increasing awareness of diversity within society, whether that be in terms of gender, sexuality, ‘race’, disability, lifestyle or heritage. This is not to say that such factors and choices are new, in fact quite the opposite. However, what is interesting about this book is that the themes covered reflect a post-industrial representation of diversity and, in doing so, a new canvas upon which economic and social exclusion are portrayed. We find ourselves in an age when such diversity is more recognised and, on the surface, more accepted. It is unlikely that this book would have been written in this way 20 or 30 years ago.

In recognising a post-industrial social diversity, the book has afforded an opportunity to pause and consider the extent to which such diversity is genuinely accepted, let alone celebrated. Contemporary Western society is often presented as one of equality and tolerance, implicitly inferring acceptance and even the legal protection of diversity. And yet, the preceding chapters have begun to challenge the reality of this assumption, a view that is supported in increasing levels of reported hate crime. With the annual data published each March, the number of hate crimes has increased from 42,225 in 2013 to 155,841 in 2022.