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The rise of a ‘social development’ agenda in New Zealand
Author(s) -
Lunt Neil
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
international journal of social welfare
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.664
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1468-2397
pISSN - 1369-6866
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-2397.2008.00557.x
Subject(s) - social change , sociology , citizenship , redevelopment , social capital , political economy , position (finance) , social policy , political science , social citizenship , public administration , economic growth , economics , politics , social science , law , finance
Since 1999 New Zealand has seen the election of a series of Labour‐led governments committed to a social policy framework of social development. This article outlines the background to the emergence of social development, tracing its antecedents in the neo‐liberal administrations of the 1990s. The social development framework consists of commitments around economic development, human capital development, family development and politico‐administrative redevelopment. Taking the position that reforms must be seen as concrete policy mechanisms and as discursive cues and conceptual apparatus, the article offers a comparison and critique. First, it identifies the continuities and contrasts with the previous neo‐liberal framework of minimal social policy; and second, it begins the process of critically interrogating the potential citizenship implications of social development.