Social Worlds, Social Policy

This unit focuses on the role of social policy in reshaping the everyday lives of ordinary citizens, social identities and the nation-state in these uncertain times. A key concern explored is the way in which neo-liberal conceptions of the social world have shifted the policy debates away from the 'public' citizen to that of the 'self-governing' private individual. Utilising insights from contemporary theories about how we are governed through a range of institutions, social networks and governmental strategies, the unit explores the 'invented' character of various policy debates from selected fields such as immigration, multiculturalism, education, health, employment, and emerging digital technologies. Through these case studies, attention is paid to the ways in which categories of persons become objects and objectives of government and why and how social identities become attached to specific social policy formulations. The unit provides an opportunity for students to develop and apply the skills of policy analysis and critique to current 'real world' policy issues.