Social Policy and Practice in Canada: A History

by Alvin Finkel

Overview

Social Policy and Practice in Canada: A History traces the history of social policy in Canada from the period of First Nations’ control to the present day, exploring the various ways in which residents of the area known today as Canada have organized themselves to deal with (or to ignore) the needs of the ill, the poor, the elderly, and the young.

This book is the first synthesis on social policy in Canada to provide a critical perspective on the evolution of social policy in the country. While earlier work has treated each new social program as a major advance, and reacted with shock to neoliberalism’s attack on social programs, Alvin Finkel demonstrates that right-wing and left-wing forces have always battled to shape social policy in Canada. He argues that the notion of a welfare state consensus in the period after 1945 is misleading, and that the social programs developed before the neoliberal counteroffensive were far less radical than they are sometimes depicted.

Social Policy and Practice in Canada: A History begins by exploring the non-state mechanisms employed by First Nations to insure the well-being of their members. It then deals with the role of the Church in New France and of voluntary organizations in British North America in helping the unfortunate. After examining why voluntary organizations gradually gave way to state-controlled programs, the book assesses the evolution of social policy in Canada in a variety of areas, including health care, treatment of the elderly, child care, housing, and poverty.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780889204751
Publisher:	Wilfrid Laurier University Press
Publication date:	04/17/2006
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	396
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Alvin Finkel is a professor of history at Athabasca University, Alberta. His publications include leading texts in Canadian history, as well as monographs on social policy, western Canadian political history, and interwar European politics. He has published widely on social policy issues. Current book review editor of Labour/Le Travail, Alvin Finkel is also the past editor of Prairie Forum.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents for Social Policy and Practice in Canada: A History by Alvin Finkel

Acknowledgements

Introduction: Studying Social Policy

PART 1
Non-State Provision (The Pre-Confederation Period)

First Peoples and Social Needs

New France: The Church, the State, and Feudal Obligations

British North America and the Poor Law

PART 2
Beyond the Poor Law: Canada, 1867–1950

Early Canada: Continuity and Change, 1867–1914

War, Depression, and Social Policy: 1914–39

Paradise Postponed, 1939–50: The Second World War and Its Aftermath

PART 3
The Welfare State, 1950–80

Social Policy and the Elderly, 1950–80

The Medicare Debate, 1945–80

The Child Care Debate, 1945–80

Housing and State Policy, 1945–80

Anti-Poverty Struggles, 1945–80

PART 4
Neo-Liberalism

The Welfare State since 1980

The New Millennium and Social Policy Directions

Bibliography

Index

Editorial Reviews

''This study provides a good synthesis of a wide array of primary and secondary material covering a host of temporal and spatial locations. It deserves the attention of those interested in the history of social policy and the history of the welfare state — student and specialist alike.''

Kurt Korneski

''A must read for anyone interested in social policy.... Highly recommended.''

CHOICE, March 2007 - D.A. Chekki

''This book is a useful synthesis of a great many, mostly secondary sources about the ideas and process behind social policy in Canada.... Canada is far from having a social policy that creates an integrated society in which all citizens live at a decent standard without regard to class, gender, race, or level of income. Today there is a growing gap between rich and poor and our social system still reflects substantial gender inequities. This book helps explain why.''

University of Toronto Quarterly, Letters in Canada 2006, Volume 77, Number 1, Winter 2008 - Laurel Sefton Macdowell