Oxford Handbook of Social Policies in the Global South

The Oxford Handbook of Social Policies in the Global South offers a comprehensive set of contributions assessing the current state of research on social policies and institutions in place outside the advanced capitalist countries. They are written by researchers with a deep knowledge of developments in the Global South. Collectively, the contributions consider three main research questions: What are the main social policies and institutions in place in the Global South? What explains their current level of development and future dynamics? And what are the outstanding factors influencing social policies in the Global South? The chapters were commissioned and written with the express purpose of offering an overview of research on social policies at the regional level and at the national level in countries with large populations, covering research in all developing regions. This is an ambitious goal given the number of countries to be included and their diversity. The volume opens with a set of global overview papers aimed at providing a window into current research on the main factors influencing social policies in the Global South and the main actors shaping them. The Oxford Handbook of Social Policies in the Global South is the first to offer a comprehensive and critical overview of social policies in the Global South.

Armando Barrientos is Professor Emeritus of Poverty and Social Justice at the Global Development Institute at the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom. His research interests focus on welfare programmes and labour markets in developing countries and on policies addressing poverty and vulnerability. His work has been published widely, including articles in World Development, Global Social Policy, International Journal of Social Welfare, and Journal of Development Studies. His most recent books are Social Assistance in Developing Countries (Cambridge University Press, 2013) and Social Protection in Latin America: Causality, Stratification and Outcomes (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024). Matthew Carnes, S.J., is Professor of Political Science at Santa Clara University, United States of America. His research examines the dynamics of labour and social welfare policy in developing and middle-income countries. A specialist on Latin America, he is the author of Continuity Despite Change: The Politics of Labor Regulation in Latin America (Stanford University Press, 2014). He has been a Visiting Scholar at Campion Hall, Oxford University, a Visiting Fellow at the Kellogg Institute for International Studies at the University of Notre Dame, and a National Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. Huck-ju Kwon is Professor at the Graduate School of Public Administration, Seoul National University, the President of the Korea Institute of Public Administration, and Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, United Kingdom. His research examines the relationship between social policy and development in development contexts. His publications include Galdeung Sahoeui Gonggong Cheongchaek (Social conflicts and making public policy) (SNU Press, 2022) and Transforming the Developmental Welfare State in East Asia (Palgrave, 2005). Leila Patel is Distinguished Professor of Social Development Studies at the Centre for Social Development in Africa, University of Johannesburg, in South Africa. Her research interests are in social welfare and social development in the Global South focusing on poverty eradication, social protection policies, gender and the care economy, and the linkages between social protection policies, welfare services, and labour markets. She has published widely in international journals. Her latest books are Social Welfare and Social Development (Oxford University Press, 2015) and Social Protection and Social Development in the Global South (Edward Elgar, 2023). Carina Schmitt is a Professor of Policy Analysis at the University of Bamberg in Germany. Her research centres on comparative welfare state research focusing on the legacy of colonialism, exploring both the origins and impacts of social protection and the effects of war on social policies. She is editor of From Colonialism to International Aid: Understanding the Role of External Actors in Social Protection in the Global South (Palgrave Macmillan, 2020). She has published peer-reviewed chapters and articles in journals such as World Politics, World Development, and European Journal of Political Research.