Social Policy And Practice In Canada: A History

by Finkel, Alvin

• ISBN13: 9780889204751
• ISBN10: 0889204756
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-04-30
• Publisher: Wilfrid Laurier Univ Pr

Summary

Social Policy and Practice in Canada: A Historytraces 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 Historybegins 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.

Author Biography

Alvin Finkel is a professor of history at Athabasca University, Alberta.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	ix
Introduction Studying Social Policy	1	(16)
PART 1 Non-State Provision (The Pre-Confederation Period)
First Peoples and Social Needs	17	(10)
New France: The Church, the State, and Feudal Obligations	27	(12)
British North America and the Poor Law	39	(26)
PART 2 Beyond the Poor Law: Canada, 1867--1950
Early Canada: Continuity and Change, 1867--1914	65	(30)
War, Depression, and Social Policy: 1914--39	95	(30)
Paradise Postponed, 1939--50: The Second World War and Its Aftermath	125	(26)
PART 3 The Welfare State, 1950--80
Social Policy and the Elderly, 1950--80	151	(18)
The Medicare Debate, 1945--80	169	(24)
The Child Care Debate, 1945--80	193	(28)
Housing and State Policy, 1945--80	221	(28)
Anti-Poverty Struggles, 1945--80	249	(34)
PART 4 Neo-Liberalism
The Welfare State since 1980	283	(42)
The New Millennium and Social Policy Directions	325	(14)
Bibliography	339	(36)
Index	375