Mah, Alice. (2009) Moral judgements and employment policies in Birmingham (1870-1914) : multiplying the categories and treatments of the "undeserving". International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, Vol.29 (No.11/12). pp. 575-586. ISSN 0144-333X

Preview

PDF WRAP_Mah_IJSSP_WRAP_2009.pdf - Accepted Version - Requires a PDF viewer such as GSview, Xpdf or Adobe Acrobat Reader Download (326Kb)

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse the justifying arguments of various Birmingham organisations between 1870 and 1914 in classifying and treating the unemployed. Using a capability approach, the paper will examine how employment policies in Birmingham during this period promoted or limited capabilities of work, life and voice. Finally, implications for labour market policies today will be discussed. Design/methodology/approach – The theoretical framework for this paper will draw on the capability approach to a person's well-being, developed by Amartya Sen and on theoretical and empirical developments of the capability approach by other authors such as Bonvin and Salais. This paper is based on historical archival research and analysis. Findings – Birmingham was an exemplar of municipal social reform in late nineteenth century England, with the development of a range of public services such as education, electricity and public transport. However, the city's vision of civic reform was closely connected to the Liberal market logic of individual responsibility, and moral judgements of the unemployed served to multiply the categories and punitive treatments of the “undeserving”, separating the valid from the invalid citizen. Originality/value – This case study of municipal employment policies in Birmingham at the turn of the twentieth century demonstrates the implications of moral judgements, classifications and treatments of the unemployed for people's capabilities in work and life, drawing connections to discourses of responsibility and citizenship today.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor
Divisions:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Sociology
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Birmingham (England) -- Economic conditions -- 19th century, Birmingham (England) -- Economic conditions -- 20th century, Unemployment -- England -- Birmingham -- History -- 19th century, Unemployment -- England -- Birmingham -- History -- 20th century, Manpower policy -- England -- Birmingham -- History -- 19th century, Manpower policy -- England -- Birmingham -- History -- 20th century, Birmingham (England) -- Social conditions -- 19th century, Birmingham (England) -- Social conditions -- 20th century
Journal or Publication Title:	International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy
Publisher:	Emerald Group Publishing Ltd.
ISSN:	0144-333X
Date:	2009
Volume:	Vol.29
Number:	No.11/12
Page Range:	pp. 575-586
Identification Number:	10.1108/01443330910999023
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Access rights to Published version:	Restricted or Subscription Access
Funder:	Sixth Framework Programme (European Commission) (FP6)
Grant number:	CAPRIGHT (FP6)
References:	Beveridge, W. H. B. (1930), Unemployment: A Problem of Industry, Longmans Green, London. Bonvin, J.-M. and Farvaque, N. (2006), “Promoting capability for work: the role of local actors”, Deneulin S., Nebel M. and Sagovsky N. (Eds.), The Capability Approach: Transforming Unjust Structures, Springer, Dordrecht, pp. 121-42. Booth, C. and Webb, B. (1891), Labour and Life of the People of London, Williams and Norgate, London. Briggs, A. (1952), History Of Birmingham, Volume II: Borough And City 1865-1938, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Carpenter, M., Freda, B. and Speeden, S. (2007), Beyond The Workfare State: Labour Markets, Equalities And Human Rights, Policy Press, Bristol. Clarke, J. (2005), “New Labour’s citizens: activated, empowered, responsibilized, abandoned?”, Critical Social Policy, Vol. 25 No. 4, pp. 447-463. Cole, M. (2007), “From employment exchange to Jobcentre Plus: the changing institutional context of unemployment”, History of the Human Sciences, Vol. 20 No. 4, pp. 129-146. Communities and Local Government (2008), “Aspiration and attainment amongst young people in deprived communities”, Social Exclusion Task Force, Cabinet Office, London. Corbett, J. (1966), The Birmingham Trades Council, 1866-1966, Lawrence & Wishart, London. Davis, W. J. (1875), National Society of Amalgamated Brassworkers Third Annual Report, Birmingham. Harris, J. (1972), Unemployment and Politics: A Study in English Social Policy, 1886-1914, Clarendon Press, Oxford. Hennock, E. P. (1973), Fit and Proper Persons: Ideal and Reality in Nineteenth-Century Urban Government, Edward Arnold, London. Hennock, E. P. (1976), “Poverty and social theory in England: the experience of the Eighteen-Eighties”, Social History, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 67-91. Hopkins, E. (1995), Working-Class Self-Help in Nineteenth Century England: Responses to Industrialization, UCL Press, London. Ives, E. W., Schwarz, L. D. and Drummond, D. K. (2000), The First Civic University: Birmingham 1880-1980, University of Birmingham Press, Birmingham. Karagiannaki, E. (2007), “Exploring the effects of integrated benefit systems and active labour market policies: evidence from Jobcentre Plus in the UK”, Journal of Social Policy, Vol. 36 No. 2, pp. 177-195. Muirhead, J. H. (1911), Birmingham Institutions, Cornish Brothers, Birmingham. Peck, J. (2001), Workfare States, Guilford Press, New York. Ralph, J. (1890), “The best-governed city in the world”, Harper’s Monthly Magazine, June, pp. 99-110. Rose, M. E. (1985), The Poor and the City: The English Poor Law in its Urban Context, 1834-1914, Leicester University Press, Leicester. Salais, R. (2004), “Incorporating the capability approach into social and employment policies”, Salais, R. and Villeneuve, R. (Eds.), Europe and the Politics of Capabilities, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 283-300. Salais, R. and Villeneuve, R. (2004), Europe and the Politics of Capabilities, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Sen, A. K. (1993), “Capability and well-being”, Sen, A. K. and Nussbaum, M. C. (Eds.), The Quality of Life, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 30-53. Shackleton, R. and Wright, A. (1983), Worlds of Labour: Essays in Birmingham Labour History, University of Birmingham Department of Extramural Studies. Thane, P. (1984), “The working class and state ‘welfare’ in Britain, 1880-1914”, The Historical Journal, Vol. 27 No. 4, pp. 877-900. Tillyard, F. (1905), “Three Birmingham relief funds-1885, 1886, and 1905”, The Economic Journal, Vol. 15 No. 60, pp. 505-520. Upton, C. (1993), A History of Birmingham, Phillimore, Chichester. Vince, C. A. (1923), History of the Corporation of Birmingham, Volume IV, 1900-1915, Birmingham. Wise, M. J. and Thorpe, P. O. (1950), “The growth of Birmingham 1800-1950”, Kinvig, R. et. al. (Eds.), Birmingham and its Regional Setting, British Association Local Executive Committee, Birmingham, pp. 213-248.
URI:	http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/43144

Request changes to a record

Actions (login required)

View Item