Corbett, S. and Walker, A.C. orcid.org/0000-0002-3169-2738 (2019) Between neoliberalism and nationalist populism: What role for the ‘European Social Model’ and social quality in post-Brexit Europe? Social Policy and Society, 18 (1). pp. 93-106. ISSN 1474-7464
Abstract
This article investigates the idea of ‘the social’ in Europe after the UK's EU Referendum vote, with reference to the ‘European social model’. It is argued that the key drivers of the vote outcome did not feature in the referendum campaign but are features of longer running and deeper fractures in both British and wider European society. Especially, the lack of response to societal problems, the downplaying of individual participation, and a crisis in democracy created by an increasingly neoliberal direction within an EU concerned with austerity and social control, contrary to the values of the ‘European social model’ (Walker, 2005). In the absence of action for better ‘social quality’, this overall neoliberal direction has also weakened the progressive and integrative potential of social policy. The result is the regressive nationalist populist backlash against neoliberal technocracy. Instead, we argue that answers to contemporary European challenges must focus on improving social quality and democracy.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2018 Cambridge University Press. This is an author produced version of a paper subsequently published in Social Policy and Society. Article available under the terms of the CC-BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). |
Keywords: | Brexit; European social model; populism; social dimension; social quality |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Department of Sociological Studies (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 01 Oct 2018 14:41 |
Last Modified: | 10 May 2024 10:37 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Cambridge University Press |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1017/S1474746418000349 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:136427 |