Politics of Unemployment Policy in Britain

Jay Wiggan is Senior Lecturer in Social Policy in the School of Social and Political Science at the University of Edinburgh.

• 1. Introduction2. Labour Commodification, the State and Class Politics3. Labour Market Restructuring and the Changing Class Composition of Labour4. Labour Autonomy, State Conciliation and the Emergence of Special Employment Measures: 1973 – 19795. A Cautious Offensive: Class Decomposition, Disorder and the Transitional Labour Market Policy Regime: 1979 – 19856. The End of Conciliation and Social Concertation: Dis-Embedding Labour 1985 – 19897. On the Offensive – Enterprise, Employability and Selective Activation: 1989–19978. Inclusive Employability, Consolidation and the Progressive Market Liberal Turn: 1997 – 20049. Disciplinary Inclusion and Extensive Labour Utilisation: 2005 – 201010. Austerity and the Imposition of Work Discipline: 2010–201611. Consolidation and Labour Market Policy Continuity in the Shadow of Crisis: 2016–202312. Concluding remarks

“This thorough, detailed text lays bare how policy underpinning social security benefits and employment programmes for unemployed people has evolved over the last 45 years in the UK.” Martin Power, University of Limerick