Welfare and wellbeing in an age of responsibility – inaugural lecture from Professor David Taylor
Published 4 March 2011
Event 28 April 2011
Welfare spending and the idea of public good are increasingly under attack. Some politicians and academics argue for increased individual wellbeing and happiness as alternatives to collective state welfare. The issue is often framed as collectivism versus individualism but welfare regimes and wellbeing strategies are complex forms of governance which structure social relationships and shape individual experience and identity.
In a period when changing governments increasingly deploy moral repertoires of obligation, duty and personal responsibility in place of state-centred social responsibility public good is challenged by increasing inequality and the market. Are we witnessing the growth of a 'corrosive individualism' as some have argued or does recent interest in individual wellbeing and happiness offer a new way of thinking about meeting human need and 'a more rounded humanity?'
I argue that individual wellbeing is not simply about happiness but the quality of personal and social relationships and that state welfare is not simply about the provision of benefits and services but the subjective experiences of service users. From an interdisciplinary perspective I examine strategies for welfare and wellbeing to reveal assumptions about the individual and the social at their core.
Welfare and wellbeing in an age of responsibility
David Taylor
Professor of Social Theory and Social Policy
Thursday 28 April 2011 at 6.30pm
Westlain House
University of Brighton
Falmer
Brighton BN1 9PH
Light refreshments will be served after the lecture. All welcome.
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