scholarly journals 'No Rights without Responsibilities': Disability Rights and Neoliberal Reform under New Labour

2012 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Randall Owen ◽  
Sarah Parker Harris
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
People With Disabilities ◽  
New Labour ◽  
Metropolitan Region ◽  
Welfare To Work ◽  
Disability Rights ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Neoliberal Reform ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Welfare Reforms

<p><em>The New Labour government in the United Kingdom led a series of welfare reforms for people with disabilities from 1997 to 2010. These reforms were heavily influenced by neoliberalism, and emphasized that there were 'no rights without responsibilities, 'making labor market participation essential. Simultaneously, the recognition of disability rights was growing in the United Kingdom, culminating in the ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2009. This article explores the tension between neoliberalism and the human rights approach to disability in the context of New Labour&rsquo;s welfare reforms for people with disabilities. The analysis includes the perspectives of people with disabilities and disability stakeholders who participated in focus groups or interviews in an English metropolitan region, and is framed by the principles that underpin the Convention. The article offers policy insights to ensure that the rights of people with disabilities are included in future welfare reforms.</em></p> <p>Key Words:&nbsp; conditionality, employment, welfare-to-work, workfare, United Kingdom</p>

scholarly journals Human Rights and Neoliberalism in Australian Welfare to Work Policy: Experiences and Perceptions of People with Disabilities and Disability Stakeholders

2014 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Parker Harris ◽  
Randall Owen ◽  
Karen R Fisher ◽  
Robert Gould
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
National Level ◽  
People With Disabilities ◽  
Welfare To Work ◽  
Disability Rights ◽  
Font Size ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Accessible Information ◽  
The Government

<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 3pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 150%; tab-stops: 6.5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span>Recent policy approaches in Australia, influenced by neoliberalism, have constrained the implementation of international disability rights at the national level. Within the neoliberal and human rights approaches to social policy, what is the lived experience of people with disabilities? In focus groups with people with disabilities and interviews with disability stakeholders in Australia, participants were asked about their experiences and perspectives of welfare to work programs. We analyzed the data by drawing on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities as a framework. The analysis revealed tensions between the rights and responsibilities of citizens and the government, and a disconnection between policy discourse and policy practice. The results suggest that disability rights are jeopardized unless governments take responsibility to create the policy environment for rights-based policy to be implemented; including the equalization of opportunities, providing accessible information and communication about employment, and addressing the administration and process practices that employment service providers follow.</span></p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span>

scholarly journals Education Governance in the United Kingdom: The Modernisation Project

2002 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 331-341 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenny Ozga
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Capital Accumulation ◽  
New Labour ◽  
Social Capital Theory ◽  
Apparent Contradiction ◽  
Capital Theory ◽  
Education Governance ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Labour Policy

This article considers the modernisation of education governance as implemented by the New Labour governments of the United Kingdom since 1997. The discussion focuses on the apparent contradiction between those elements of modernisation that require the measurement and management of performance; and those that promote greater fairness and responsiveness. It is argued that tensions between these elements of policy are resolved by New Labour policy makers through the use of ideas derived from social capital theory. Modernisation uses these ideas in pursuit of a transformation of politics that enhances governability by making beliefs and feelings quantifiable, and by equating social relations with capital accumulation. The article concludes with a consideration of the problems encountered in the operationalisation of the modernisation project in the United Kingdom's Education Action Zones, where business was encouraged to play a major role in building new networks and social relations.

Fair Conditions and Fair Consequences? Exploring New Labour, Welfare Contractualism and Social Attitudes

2012 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 359-373 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Sage
Keyword(s):  
Adverse Effects ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Social Attitudes ◽  
New Labour ◽  
Welfare To Work ◽  
Alternative Strategies ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Unemployed ◽  
Welfare Reforms ◽  
By Products

This article explores the intention and effects of New Labour's ‘conditional’ welfare-to-work strategy. Conditionality has been the subject of substantive debate, with New Labour distinguishing its own contractualist welfare reforms from alternative strategies, often associated with ‘punitive’ US workfare. This article assesses whether New Labour's attempt to fashion what is described as ‘reciprocal responsibility’ in welfare arrangements avoided the commonly cited by-products of workfare. To achieve this, evidence is presented from the British Social Attitudes series, which shows a profound hardening of attitudes towards the unemployed. In light of these findings, the evidence supports arguments about the adverse effects that welfare contractualism can have for wider social relations.

scholarly journals Menyoal Kesenjangan dan Diskriminisi Publik Terhadap Penyandang Disabilitas

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-178
Author(s):  
Risky Novialdi ◽  
Isvarwani Isvarwani ◽  
Fauzi Fauzi ◽  
Ilyas Ismail ◽  
Muammar Qadafi
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Sexual Harassment ◽  
Public Services ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
People With Disabilities ◽  
Disability Rights ◽  
Public Places ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Main Requirement ◽  
The Family

Disabilitas menjadi topik permasalahan yang serius periode belakangan ini, hal tersebut dikarenakan penyandang disabilitas rawan akan berbagai tindakan diskriminasi secara fisik maupun mental, bahkan difabel rentan menjadi korban pelecehan seksual dalam ruang lingkup keluarga ataupun non difabel. Para disabilitas menghadapi berbagai problematika dalam kehidupan sehari-hari. Penyandang disabilitas seringkali di tolak dengan alasan keterbatasan mereka, bahkan ada beberapa yang menjadikan sehat jasmani dan rohani sebagai syarat utama untuk bisa mangakses bidang-bidang tertentu. Bahkan pelanggaran Hak Asasi Manusia (HAM) terhadap penyandang disabilitas masih dijumpai di lokasi sekitar. Kesenjangan yang diterima oleh penyandang disabilitas menjadi tekanan tersendiri bagi para difabel untuk memenuhi segala aspek kebutuhannya. Pemenuhan hak-hak disabilitas masih kurang diperhatikan, baik dalam sarana bangunan atau infastruktur, maupun fasilitas-fasilitas di tempat umum. Ketidaksetaraan juga terjadi dalam sektor pendidikan, lapangan pekerjaan, politik, dan aksesibilitas terhadap transportasi. Hal tersebut menunjukkan adanya perlakuan yang berbeda yang diterima oleh penyandang disabilitas terhadap layanan publik yang ramah bagi penyandang disabilitas.Disability has become a serious problem topic in recent times, this is because people with disabilities are prone to various acts of discrimination physically and mentally, even people with disabilities are vulnerable to being victims of sexual harassment within the family or non-disabled spheres. People with disabilities face various problems in their daily life. Persons with disabilities are often rejected on the grounds of their limitations, there are even some who make physically and mentally healthy as the main requirement to be able to access certain fields. Even human rights violations against persons with disabilities are still found in nearby locations. The gap that is accepted by people with disabilities is a separate pressure for people with disabilities to meet all aspects of their needs. Fulfillment of disability rights is still lacking in attention, both in building facilities or infrastructure, as well as facilities in public places. Inequality also exists in the sectors of education, employment, politics, and accessibility to transportation. This shows that there is a different treatment received by persons with disabilities towards public services that are friendly to persons with disabilities.

Educational Inequalities in the United Kingdom: A Critical Analysis of the Discourses and Policies of New Labour

2002 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 138-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carole Leathwood ◽  
Annette Hayton
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
New Labour ◽  
Widening Participation ◽  
Educational Inequalities ◽  
Current Policy ◽  
Third Way ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Education Support ◽  
Participation In Higher Education

This paper explores the intentions and attempts of the New Labour government in the United Kingdom (UK) to challenge educational inequalities. It begins with an overview of ‘Third Way’ philosophy and New Labour's commitment to social justice and social inclusion, then moves on to examine three policy themes in some detail: the economising of education; support for ability setting and selection; and policy related to widening participation in higher education. The paper highlights the contradictions in New Labour educational policies and pronouncements, and concludes that current policy developments are likely to reinforce rather than ameliorate educational inequalities.

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