All Our Welfare

Peter Beresford OBE is Professor of Citizen Participation at the University of Essex and Emeritus Professor at Brunel University London. He has a background as a long-term user of mental health services and welfare benefits. He is also Co-Chair of Shaping Our Lives, the disabled people’s and service users’ organisation, network and think tank. He has a longstanding involvement in issues of participation as service user, writer, researcher, campaigner and educator.

• Introduction: Owning not othering our welfare;Part One: The legacy of the past;Setting the scene for welfare and social policy;The Past;The origins of the welfare state;The welfare state and pressures from the war;The principles of the welfare state;The welfare state: Whose consensus?;Back to the past;What’s wrong with social policy?;Part Two: The way to the future;The beginnings of something different;A new set of principles for social policy;Reconceiving research;A new approach to social policy;Welfare policy for the twenty first century;Supporting each other in the future;Changing welfare;Afterword: The future: a different way forward?

"Peter Beresford is one of our best and most trenchant critics of the impact of neoliberal policies on social work services, service users and welfare provision more generally. This stimulating and important book deserves to be read widely." Michael Lavalette, Liverpool Hope University. "An imaginative, challenging and valuable rethink of the welfare state, with a unique bottom-up focus from the perspective and interests of the people it was created to serve." Peter Tatchell, Director, Peter Tatchell Foundation. "Few people are better qualified than Peter Beresford to write a book which recognises the strengths of the welfare state while also challenging its limitations. Essential reading for students, practitioners and activists." Iain Ferguson, University of the West of Scotland. "All Our Welfare deftly weaves together history, policy and personal experiences to examine the pasts and possible futures of welfare in Britain. This timely and moving book is an important reminder that what welfare is really about is 'how we look after each other in society'." Imogen Tyler, Lancaster University; "An illuminating, enjoyable and encouraging read which is highly recommended." Ekklesia; "All Our Welfare is a wonderful book, full of hope and inspiration. It offers very practical ideas rooted in the experience of people from all walks of life, and it shows how a society in which we care for each other is both desirable and achievable." Dan Paskins, Head of Policy and Learning at Big Lottery Fund; "This book does not duck the complexities of the history of the welfare state and its current forms. It interleaves formal analyses with personal testimony to great effect. It is well researched and refreshing." Diana Rose, Professor King's College London; "All our Welfare is a thought-provoking book that offers a timely challenge to much contemporary academic social policy...it is enriched by the author's personal experience." LSE Review of Books