Compassion A Global History of Social Policy [Hardcover]

Compassion traces the ways in which various societies across the globe have responded to the vulnerable among them from early human history to the present. Along the way, Alvin Finkel assesses the impacts of economic developments, colonialism, political arrangements, gender, race, and social class in influencing how different peoples have defined the rights of individuals and communities facing hardship. 

From Russia to Iran, from Scandinavia to Vietnam, this book looks at how social policy has been shaped by global social forces such as capitalism, imperialism and neoliberalism and analyses why different countries and regions diverged in their ways of dealing with inequalities and social needs. 

This is a valuable resource for students on History, Sociology or Social Work degrees taking modules or courses on the History of Welfare/Social Policy or Global History.

1. Introduction: Why Study Social Policy as a Global Phenomenon?.- PART I: SOCIAL POLICY FROM THE DAWN OF HUMANITY TO BISMARCK.- 2. Sharing versus Domination: Social Policy from 200,000 BCE to the Middle Ages.- 3. Charity and Poor Laws versus the Moral Economy, 1000-1850.- 4. Empire and Social Policy.- 5. Social Insurance and Social Policy in Europe, 1850-1914.- 6. Social Policy before 1914 in Former European Colonies.- PART II: SOCIAL POLICY FROM THE FIRST WORLD WAR TO THE COLD WAR.- 7. Social Policy in the Inter-War Years.- 8. World War Two and the Cold War, 1939-1980: The Capitalist World.- 9. The Communist World, 1945-1991.- 10. The Post-Colonial World, 1945-1990.- PART III: SOCIAL POLICY IN THE AGE OF NEOLIBERALISM.- 11. Neoliberalism and Advanced Capitalism.- 12. Post-Communism.- 13. Neoliberalism and Underdeveloped Countries.- Conclusion: Compassion through the Ages