Social Policy thesis and dissertation collection
Social Policy has been taught in the University of Edinburgh since 1918. The Subject Group is one of the most respected in the UK and amongst the front rank for the quality of its teaching and research. The Subject Group offers a broad range of courses and postgraduate training, including taught MSc degrees in Childhood Studies,Comparative Public Policy, Policy Studies and Research in Social Policy as well as several undergraduate joint degrees. The Social Policy Group comprises an enthusiastic and experienced teaching team of ten members of staff, three of whom hold Chairs in Family Policies, Socio-Legal Studies and Social and Public Policy, as well as several Honorary Fellows. Research and teaching in the Subject Group brings established expertise in theoretically informed empirical research to the study of social and public policies in the 21st Century.
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Recent Submissions
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Wage supplements in mature welfare states: accounting for in-work benefit reforms in France and the United Kingdom, 1995-2020
(The University of Edinburgh, 2023-05-19)In-work benefits (IWBs) are policies through which the state directly supplements market wages through cash or tax transfers. Such policies are often targeted at low wage earners and are associated with the goals of ... -
How do hospitals sustain delivery of health care in conditions of protracted armed conflict? A case study of the Hospital San Andrés ESE in Tumaco, Colombia
(The University of Edinburgh, 2023-04-20)BACKGROUND: Colombia, a middle-income country in Latin America, has experienced a protracted armed conflict for six decades, driven predominantly by the drug trade. The municipality of Tumaco, a port city located in the ... -
Discursive construction of higher education policies in Greece during the financial crisis (2011-2014): a critical discourse analysis of the debate around the policy-making of the 4009/2011 framework act
(The University of Edinburgh, 2023-01-17)During the past decade Greece has been experiencing a tremendous fiscal crisis. The recession ensued by the crisis along with the adopted austerity measures have dealt a severe blow not only to the basic, daily operations ... -
What role does family play? The relationship between living arrangements and the well-being of women aged 60 and over in China
(The University of Edinburgh, 2022-07-29)In traditional Chinese family life, intergenerational households provided support for older people. Social and cultural changes in the past decades have seen a growing trend towards smaller families and new family ... -
To GDP or not to GDP? Identifying the factors promoting and inhibiting the use and impact of well-being metrics in Scotland and Italy
(The University of Edinburgh, 2022-06-24)Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is frequently used as a proxy for well-being. Such use of GDP is problematic for many reasons, for GDP excludes activities that contribute to well-being and includes others that have a negative ... -
Lived citizenship in early childhood in a flood-prone area in Amazonian Peru
(The University of Edinburgh, 2022-03-23)Sociocultural definitions of citizenship challenge normative notions of the concept to include ‘differences’ (in terms of culture, gender, age, and so forth), in recognition of the diverse ways of being and acting as a ... -
Young women's (im)mobilities: a qualitative study in Inverness, Scotland
(The University of Edinburgh, 2021-12-17)Through their everyday mobilities, young women forge and maintain social connections and often develop a sense of place belonging where they reside. Yet, young women’s mobilities are not solely a product of personal ... -
From PROGRESA to PROSPERA: understanding change and stability in Mexico's conditional cash transfer programme
(The University of Edinburgh, 2021-11-25)The continuation for over two decades of the conditional cash transfer programme “PROGRESA – Oportunidades – PROSPERA” (POP) represents an anomaly in Mexican policy making. Traditionally, policies have tended to be ... -
Play-based research approach: young researchers' conceptualisations, processes, and experiences
(The University of Edinburgh, 2021-12-06)Play is often seen as a trivial experience that happens in the gaps or breaks in research, outside the research process proper, or at best as an element that is instrumentalised to build rapport, rather than as aspect ... -
Embedded institutions, embodied conflicts: public universities and post-war peacebuilding in Sierra Leone and Sri Lanka
(The University of Edinburgh, 2021-12-06)This thesis is a study of the interaction of public universities with peacebuilding in Sierra Leone and Sri Lanka, two countries marked by civil wars in recent decades. Utilising documentary evidence and qualitative ... -
Understanding marihuana policy change in Uruguay: towards policy coherence?
(The University of Edinburgh, 2021-12-06)BACKGROUND: In 2013, Uruguay became the first country in the world to comprehensively regulate the production, distribution and sale of marihuana for recreational purposes. Officials involved in developing Uruguay’s ... -
Change, continuity, and contestations: framing domestic abuse policy in Scotland since 1998
(The University of Edinburgh, 2021-12-06)Mainstream and feminist scholars have grappled with the ‘big questions’ of how to understand and explain the dynamics of policy change and continuity. Policy-as-discourse and social movement theorists have offered some ... -
Qualitative case study of local alcohol policy implementation in Scotland
(The University of Edinburgh, 2021-07-31)Background: Alcohol use is a major risk factor for ill-health and a contributor to health inequalities. Scottish alcohol-related mortality rates are the highest in the UK, with the greatest burden of alcohol-related ... -
Evaluating small area population estimates and projection for sub-council areas in Scotland
(The University of Edinburgh, 2021-07-31)This thesis is a collaborative research project with the National Records of Scotland and seeks to provide a fresh assessment of small area population estimates, and the first evaluation of small area population ... -
Understanding the circular economy in Kenya
(The University of Edinburgh, 2021-07-31)Over the last decade the circular economy has become popular in the Global North and is beginning to gain traction in the Global South. Yet analysis of this sustainability concept is notably lacking in the Global South, ... -
Depth and breadth: a mixed-method investigation of disciplinary approaches to health inequalities and health disparities research
(The University of Edinburgh, 2021-07-31)This PhD thesis is an in-depth investigation of the ways academic disciplines shape scientific practice in health equity research, a sub-specialisation of population health. Whilst covering many contexts and aspects of ... -
Mixed methods investigation of the meanings of one inequality indicator (the Japanese Small Area Deprivation Index) for researching social inequalities in health in the Soma Region of Fukushima, Japan
(The University of Edinburgh, 2020-11-30)In the process of researching social inequalities in health, certain indicators (e.g. socioeconomic position; small area deprivation) are now widely used across many countries. However, there has been limited research ... -
Politics of intersectional practice: representation, coalition and solidarity
(The University of Edinburgh, 2020-11-30)This thesis makes both an empirical and theoretical contribution to the study of intersectionality’s operationalisation. While race, class, gender and gender identity, disability status, ethnicity, sexual orientation, ... -
Follow the bottle: PET recycling economy and waste picker empowerment in Brazil
(The University of Edinburgh, 2020-11-30)This thesis seeks to understand and problematise waste pickers’ underprivileged socioeconomic condition in Brazil from the perspective of their active participation in the recycling economy. It uses a Cultural Political ... -
OTC commodity derivative rulemaking at the CFTC, 2010-2016: a cultural political economy approach
(The University of Edinburgh, 2020-07-29)Rulemaking undertaken by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) between 2010 and 2016 for the regulation of over-the-counter (OTC) commodity derivatives comprised an essential component in the implementation of ...
