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Max Koch. Foto: Johan Persson.

Max Koch

Professor

Max Koch. Foto: Johan Persson.

Social Policy in a Climate Emergency Context: Towards an Ecosocial Research Agenda

Author

  • Tuuli Hirvilammi
  • Liisa Häikiö
  • Håkan Johansson
  • Max Koch
  • Johanna Perkiö

Summary, in English

Social policy developed as a research field and academic discipline to ensure protection from social risks in the era of emerging capitalism and industrialization. While welfare states have successfully increased their citizens’ wellbeing, they have also contributed to the ecological crisis, while the shared scientific understanding of exceeded planetary boundaries and worsening climate change scenarios has not (yet) reshaped mainstream social policy research. In this article, we suggest that the established traditions in social policy research can nevertheless provide a solid ground for responding to the climate emergency and facilitating the sustainable transformation of society and the economy. With a focus on four of the research fields that are central in social policy scholarship – risks, citizenship, welfare regimes, and wellbeing – we develop an ecosocial research agenda. By discussing the classic and climate-adjusted understandings of these fields, we open future pathways for social policy research and invite scholars to engage with our proposed research agenda.

Department/s

  • LU Profile Area: Human rights
  • School of Social Work
  • Social Policy and Sustainability
  • LU Profile Area: Nature-based future solutions

Publishing year

2023-01-12

Language

English

Pages

1-23

Publication/Series

Journal of Social Policy

Volume

52

Issue

1

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Topic

  • Social Sciences Interdisciplinary

Keywords

  • social policy
  • welfare state
  • climate change
  • risk
  • citizenship
  • welfare regimes
  • wellbeing

Status

Published

Project

  • Sustainable Welfare for a New Generation of Social Policy
  • Postgrowth Welfare Systems
  • The New Urban Challenge? Models of Sustainable Welfare in Swedish Metropolitan Cities

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 0047-2794