Building Decent Societies

PETER TOWNSEND was Professor of International Social Policy, LSE, and Emeritus Professor of Social Policy, Bristol University. Over the course of a long career his research interests included international social policy, the sociology of poverty, inequalities in health, and ageing, disability and the family. His most recent publications include The Right to Social Security and National Development: Lessons from OECD Experience for Low-Income Countries (2007), Child Poverty in the Developing World (co-authored with David Gordon and others, 2003) and World Poverty: New Policies to Defeat an Old Enemy (co-editor, 2002). A tireless activist and campaigner, he was cofounder and president of the Disability Alliance, and a founding member and president of the Child Poverty Action Group up until his death in June 2009.

• Acknowledgements Foreword; A.Diop Introduction; P.Townsend PART I: THE RIGHT TO SOCIAL SECURITY AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT Social Security and Human Rights; P.Townsend PART II: ISSUES FOR THE GLOBAL SOCIETY OF THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY Social Protection and Nation Building: An essay on why and how universalist social policy contributes to stable nation-states; C.de Neubourg Social Security, Social Impact and Economic Performance: A Farewell to Three Famous Myths; M.Cichon  & W.Scholz Can Low-income Countries Afford Social Security?; C.Behrendt  & K.Hagemejer The Impact of Social Transfers on Growth, Development, Poverty and Inequality in Developing Countries; M.Samson Child Poverty and Child Rights a Possible UN Model for Child Benefit?; P.Townsend PART III: SOCIAL PROTECTION IN EUROPE AND THE OECD Three Models of Social Security in the History of the Industrialised Countries; P.Townsend Social Protection, the European Union and its Member States; R.Wagener Can the European Welfare Model be Exported?; P.Lindert The Poverty Effects of Social Protection in Europe EU Enlargement and its Lessons for Developing Countries; B.Cantillon PART IV: EXPERIENCES FROM LOW-INCOME COUNTRIES Social Security in Developing Countries: A Brief Overview; P.Townsend Introducing Basic Social Protection in Low Income Countries: Lessons From Existing Programmes; A.Barrientos Social Protection, Rural Livelihoods and Economic Growth: The Case of Cash Transfers; R.Slater, J.Farrington, R.Holmes &  P.Harvey Welfare, Development and Growth Lessons from South Africa; F.Lund From Targeting to Universality Lessons from the Health System in Thailand; V.Tangcharoensathien, P.Prakongsai, S.Limwattananon, W.Patcharanarumol &  P.Jongudomsuk PART V: CONCLUSIONS Rethinking the Role of Social Security in Development; C.Behrendt, M.Cichon, K.Hagemejer, S.Kidd, R.Krech  &  P.Townsend Bibliography Index