Welfare's Forgotten Past

A Socio-Legal History of the Poor Law

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Philanthropy & Charity, Reference & Language, Law, Legal History
Cover of the book Welfare's Forgotten Past by Lorie Charlesworth, Taylor and Francis
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Lorie Charlesworth ISBN: 9781135179632
Publisher: Taylor and Francis Publication: December 16, 2009
Imprint: Routledge-Cavendish Language: English
Author: Lorie Charlesworth
ISBN: 9781135179632
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Publication: December 16, 2009
Imprint: Routledge-Cavendish
Language: English

That ‘poor law was law’ is a fact that has slipped from the consciousness of historians of welfare in England and Wales, and in North America. Welfare's Forgotten Past remedies this situation by tracing the history of the legal right of the settled poor to relief when destitute. Poor law was not simply local custom, but consisted of legal rights, duties and obligations that went beyond social altruism. This legal ‘truth’ is, however, still ignored or rejected by some historians, and thus ‘lost’ to social welfare policy-makers. This forgetting or minimising of a legal, enforceable right to relief has not only led to a misunderstanding of welfare’s past; it has also contributed to the stigmatisation of poverty, and the emergence and persistence of the idea that its relief is a 'gift' from the state.

Documenting the history and the effects of this forgetting, whilst also providing a ‘legal’ history of welfare, Lorie Charlesworth argues that it is timely for social policy-makers and reformists – in Britain, the United States and elsewhere – to reconsider an alternative welfare model, based on the more positive, legal aspects of welfare’s 400-year legal history.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

That ‘poor law was law’ is a fact that has slipped from the consciousness of historians of welfare in England and Wales, and in North America. Welfare's Forgotten Past remedies this situation by tracing the history of the legal right of the settled poor to relief when destitute. Poor law was not simply local custom, but consisted of legal rights, duties and obligations that went beyond social altruism. This legal ‘truth’ is, however, still ignored or rejected by some historians, and thus ‘lost’ to social welfare policy-makers. This forgetting or minimising of a legal, enforceable right to relief has not only led to a misunderstanding of welfare’s past; it has also contributed to the stigmatisation of poverty, and the emergence and persistence of the idea that its relief is a 'gift' from the state.

Documenting the history and the effects of this forgetting, whilst also providing a ‘legal’ history of welfare, Lorie Charlesworth argues that it is timely for social policy-makers and reformists – in Britain, the United States and elsewhere – to reconsider an alternative welfare model, based on the more positive, legal aspects of welfare’s 400-year legal history.

More books from Taylor and Francis

Cover of the book The Routledge Companion to Planning in the Global South by Lorie Charlesworth
Cover of the book Ibn al-Haytham and Analytical Mathematics by Lorie Charlesworth
Cover of the book Queer Representation, Visibility, and Race in American Film and Television by Lorie Charlesworth
Cover of the book Modern War and the Utility of Force by Lorie Charlesworth
Cover of the book Joan of Arc in French Art and Culture (1700�855) by Lorie Charlesworth
Cover of the book Historical Perspectives and the International Status of Comparative Psychology by Lorie Charlesworth
Cover of the book Defence and the Media in Time of Limited War by Lorie Charlesworth
Cover of the book Public Infrastructure Performance in Developing Countries by Lorie Charlesworth
Cover of the book Linguistics and the Teacher by Lorie Charlesworth
Cover of the book Popular Medicine, Hysterical Disease, and Social Controversy in Shakespeare's England by Lorie Charlesworth
Cover of the book Screen, Culture, Psyche by Lorie Charlesworth
Cover of the book Technique in Child and Adolescent Analysis by Lorie Charlesworth
Cover of the book The Surveillance Web by Lorie Charlesworth
Cover of the book The Central Business District by Lorie Charlesworth
Cover of the book Modernist Star Maps by Lorie Charlesworth
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy