Advancing Value Pluralist Approaches to Social Policy Controversies
A Case Study of Welfare Conditionality
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2116441 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Beth Watts-Cobbe (0000-0003-1769-5956, Heriot-Watt University, corresponding author), Suzanne Fitzpatrick (Heriot-Watt University) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 54 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 285-300 |
| Publication date | 2025-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Social Policy (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0047-2794 • E-ISSN: 1469-7823 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0047279423000065 |
| OpenAlex | W4324060329 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 50 |
Value pluralism' is a strand of analytical philosophy that posits the plurality of morally significant values. By enabling systematic mapping of the diversity of moral registers within which social policy concerns might legitimately be considered, we contend that value pluralist-inspired analysis can aid constructive policy dialogue. Our argument is founded on four claims: first, as a matter of normative principle, value pluralism represents a defensible ethical standpoint; second, as a matter of fact, people are attracted to a plurality of moral values; third, as a matter of democratic legitimacy, pluralism offers a means of (partially) reconciling rival moral claims; fourth, as a matter of political strategy, pluralism offers a pragmatic approach that can engage protagonists on their own terms. To demonstrate its efficacy, we apply this pluralist approach to the vexed question of welfare conditionality, which we interrogate via six normative perspectives (rights, utilitarianism, contractualism, communitarianism, paternalism and social justice
Communitarianism · Conditionality · Economics · Epistemology · Law and economics · Legitimacy · Liberalism · Normative · Pluralism (philosophy) · Political philosophy · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Sociology · Utilitarianism · Value (mathematics) · Value pluralism · Foucault, Power, and Ethics · Law · Philosophy · Political Philosophy and Ethics · Social Policy and Reform Studies
Liberty
Welfare Conditionality
Conditional Cash Transfers
Austerity, sanctions, and the rise of food banks in the UK
Conditional, unconditional and everything in between
Jobs, Welfare and Austerity
Two Levels of Pluralism
Political Philosophy and the Real World of the Welfare State
Liberals and Communitarians
Utilitarianism and Beyond
Liberal Pluralism
Effective Altruism and its Critics
A Theory of Justice
In Defense of Hard Paternalism
Incompletely Theorized Agreements
Social Rights and Human Welfare
Behavioural conditionality
Universal Credit, ubiquitous conditionality and its implications for social citizenship
Welfare conditionality, benefit sanctions and homelessness in the UK
Conditionality in Public Policy Targeted to the Poor
Set up to Fail’? How Welfare Conditionality Undermines Citizenship for Vulnerable Groups
Who Sets the Conditions? Conditionality, Reciprocity, Human Rights and Inclusion in Society
Supportive Housing
Rights to Housing
Human rights, power and welfare conditionality
Conditionality, discretion and TH Marshall’s ‘right to welfare’
Social Inclusion
Justifying conditionality
Superfluous, Pernicious, Atrocious and Abominable? The Case Against Conditional Cash Transfers
The Social and Economic Impact of Sanctions and Time Limits on Recipients of Temporary Assistance to Needy Families
New conditionality in Australian social security policy
Moral framings in the Australian parliamentary debate on drug testing of welfare recipients
Penal and welfare conditionality
Punitive benefit sanctions, welfare conditionality, and the social abuse of unemployed people in Britain
Frontline managers' perceptions and justifications of behavioural conditionality
Liberal rights
Principles of Social Justice
Contemporary political philosophy
Aliens and Citizens
Mapping the moral domain
Creeping Conditionality in the UK
The Benefit Sanction
The Illiberalism of Behavioural Conditionality
Controlling Homeless People? Power, Interventionism and Legitimacy
Using Behavioural Insights to Argue for a Stronger Social Safety Net
Engineering Compassion
When Morality Opposes Justice
| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2.5 |
| Citation span | 2024 - 2026 (3) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |