Developments in Swedish Social Policy Resisting Dionysus [Hardcover]

For many decades, Sweden was seen as a model welfare state. Only with the onset of economic problems in the 1990s have successive governments felt compelled to curb social spending and abandon the goal of full employment. This book is about the changes introduced and the political, institutional and cultural resistance they encountered. Detailed accounts of changes to welfare services and benefits are included alongside specialist chapters devoted to areas where Sweden itself has claimed to be something of a leader - the care of the elderly, gender equality, employment issues and substance.List of Tables Preface Acknowledgements Glossary Postmodern World..... ......Modern Society The 'People's Home' Political and Economic Change Social Insecurity: Benefits and Services Grey Policies: Caring for the Elderly The State of Women Responses to Unemployment The Restrictive Line: Alcohol and Drugs Apollo versus Dionysus Bibliography Index

'...this unusually well-written, broad, and detailed examination of Swedish social policy is essential reading...' - Choice

'...Gould's book is - with is wealth of material and wide-ranging considerations - a substantial contribution to the ongoingdebate about Sweden as a uniqu and important case of a modern welfare state.' - Wolfgang Zank, Aalborg University, Journal of Contemporary European Studies

'...an extremely well-informed and creative analysis of Swedish social policy from the outside that produces many important reflections for students, scholars and not least Swedish politicians.' - Lennart Nygren, Professor of Social Work at Ume? University, Sweden, Social Policy

ARTHUR GOULD is Reader in Swedish Social Policy at the Department of Social Sciences, Loughborough University. He has published many articles on Swedish drug policy, the Swedish welfare state, long-term unemployment in Sweden and Swedish social policy and the EU. He is the author of Conflict and Control in l3³