This paper theorizes the nature of neoliberal social policy, making three substantial contributions. First, processes of “economization” are identified as a central characteristic of neoliberalism: economization constitutes a “bridge” between Foucauldian and (neo-)Marxist accounts of neoliberalism – two perspectives that are in many respects hardly reconcilable – because extending the economic logic to non-economic areas (neoliberalism as a governmental rationality) also potentially increases the profit-making opportunities in previously uncommodified domains (neoliberalism as a capitalist project). Second, the paper links economization processes not only to projects of austerity and welfare retrenchment but also to the more generous “social investment” agenda. Third, the paper highlights the central paradox of neoliberal social policy, whereby higher degrees of economization are associated with more generous social policy: more “social” versions of neoliberalism are those that ironically downplay the social logic, transforming social policies into economic investments. The paper also discusses the problems related to economization in terms of de-democratization.

The paper explores governmental perceptions and reactions to “social questions” in British colonial Africa, c. 1880-1950. By comparing three different political entities, Egypt, South Africa and Uganda, we find that authorities across cases have been acutely aware of potentially destabilising social change. Some social problems actually resulted from colonial projects themselves, giving rise to rather contradictory interpretations and policies. However, the intensity of political reactions to social questions varied widely, ranging from a largely passive approach in Egypt to the introduction of modern welfare in South Africa. We argue that perceptions and responses to social dislocation had a long-term impact on patterns of state formation and social policy development.

Currently, many immigrants are disqualified from Canada’s public pension scheme because of residency requirements. In addition, decades of low income and labour market exclusion prohibit many Canadian immigrants from building adequate private pension savings throughout their working life. Together, these factors present serious concerns for immigrant seniors’ economic well-being. Using Canadian census data spanning a twenty-year period (1991–2011), we find that income from personal savings plans and investments has declined sharply for both native-born and immigrant Canadians, with recent immigrant cohorts faring worst. However, since 1991, native-born and immigrant men living in Canada for 40-plus years had major gains in private employer pensions (Registered Pension Plans; [RPPs]). Yet RPP income for all other immigrant cohorts remained stable or declined during these decades. Thus, the data demonstrate a worrisome growing private savings gap between native-born men and all others in Canada, with newer immigrants and women faring worst.

Within a neoliberal policy context that shifts responsibility for health and well-being from the state to families and individuals, Canadian home care strategies tend to present family members as “partners in care”. Drawing on an interpretive grounded theory study that involved 34 qualitative interviews, this article examines older people’s experiences at the intersections of formal home care and family/friend care arrangements, against the backdrop of policies that emphasize partnerships with family. The core concept derived from the interviews was reconciling tensions between care needs and concerns about burdening others, in the context of available home and community care. Four processes are identified, which illustrate how access to financial and social resources may lead to opportunities and constraints in experiences of care. Findings underscore the emotional and practical challenges that older people may encounter vis-à-vis policy discourses that encourage family responsibility for care. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.

The relationship between work and family is considered with an emphasis on policy solutions. Australian policy is a case example in the context of international trends. A mismatch between policy initiatives and familial and personal priorities constitutes a new social risk associated with demographic and sociocultural development. Contemporary trends, both nationally and internationally, evidence solutions to the “problem of demographic aging” by adopting a form of economic instrumentalism. This restricts legitimate age identities to those associated with work and work-related activity. When applied to family life, such a focus runs the risk of reducing policy interest in intergenerational engagement to unpaid care roles, while personal development and age-related life priorities are ignored. The need for cultural adaptation to population aging is becoming accepted in policy debate and is considered here as an effective response to the personal, social, and economic risks of population aging and associated impacts on family life.

The capability approach has been developed by Amartya Sen, Martha Nussbaum and others as a human-centred normative framework for the evaluation of individual and group well-being, quality of life and social justice. Sen and Nussbaum’s ideas have influenced global, national and local policy and have been further developed in a number of academic disciplines, but so far have remained largely unnoticed in sociology. This article examines recent capability-informed theories and empirical applications in the sociology of human rights and other academic fields adjacent to sociology, focussing on examples of social policy studies in the fields of welfare, the labour market, health and disability, and education. The article outlines several potential areas in which capability-informed frameworks are relevant for critical social theory, public sociology and global sociology.

The challenge of this paper is to re-examine the demographics which underlie the re-write of social policy in an aging Canada, as related to gender, family and generation. Following a brief consideration of Canada's changes and challenges in comparison to those in the United States and selected European countries, the analytical construct, “life cycles of dependencies and responsibilities” is introduced and utilized to examine shifting bases of security among generations (with a focus on six cohorts), and in particular, the implications of possible changes to social policy for the elderly on women, the poor and other disadvantaged elders.

The main claim of this paper is that in a world of equal entitlements to work rights the justification for a basic income is stronger, and that its level should be higher, the higher the level of unemployment or job scarcity. Point of departure is an economy with job scarcity. A fair way to deal with job scarcity is to grant everybody an equal right to work, where these rights can be freely traded. It turns out that such a Labour Rights scheme and a basic income scheme are equivalent. The equivalence is that the price of Labour Rights and the unemployment benefit corresponds to the income tax rate and basic income respectively. The tax rate can thus be considered as what workers have to pay to appropriate scarce job assets. Both schemes allow that some people voluntarily abstain from doing paid work, in return for a financial compensation. Therefore, the advantages in terms of equity and efficiency of a Labour Rights scheme equally apply to the basic income proposal. This analysis provides an argument against cutting unemployment and social assistance benefits during economic downturns and it offers new insights to evaluate the parasitism and exploitation objection raised against basic income.

The main claim of this paper is that in a world of equal entitlements to work rights the justification for a basic income is stronger, and that its level should be higher, the higher the level of unemployment or job scarcity. Point of departure is an economy with job scarcity. A fair way to deal with job scarcity is to grant everybody an equal right to work, where these rights can be freely traded. It turns out that such a Labour Rights scheme and a basic income scheme are equivalent. The equivalence is that the price of Labour Rights and the unemployment benefit corresponds to the income tax rate and basic income respectively. The tax rate can thus be considered as what workers have to pay to appropriate scarce job assets. Both schemes allow that some people voluntarily abstain from doing paid work, in return for a financial compensation. Therefore, the advantages in terms of equity and efficiency of a Labour Rights scheme equally apply to the basic income proposal. This analysis provides an argument against cutting unemployment and social assistance benefits during economic downturns and it offers new insights to evaluate the parasitism and exploitation objection raised against basic income.