Discourse on Inequality in France and Britain
For Marie-Cecile, Guilne and Sylvia and for Bridget
our most important contributors
Discourse on Inequality in France and Britain
Edited by
John Edwards
Professor of Social Policy
University of London - Royal Holloway
Jean-Paul Rvauger
Professor of British Studies
Universit de Provence, Aix-Marseille I.
First published 1998 by Ashgate Publishing
Reissued 2018 by Routledge
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Copyright John Edwards and Jean-Paul Rvauger 1998
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A Library of Congress record exists under LC control number: 97076934
ISBN 13: 978-1-138-31167-1 (hbk)
ISBN 13: 978-1-138-31168-8 (pbk)
ISBN 13: 978-0-429-45870-5 (ebk)
John Edwards is Professor of Social Policy at London University. His recent work has concentrated on the morality of preferential treatment for ethnic minorities in the USA and Europe and he has published several books in this field including When Race Counts (1995) which received the Gustavus Myers Award for Scholarship in the Field of Human Rights in the USA.
Jean-Paul Rvauger is Professor of British Studies at the Universit de Provence, Aix-Marseiile I. He was the founder in 1991 of the Observatoire de la societe britannique and has published extensively in the field of comparative social policy. He is co-author of Ecrire la Pauvrete published by L'Harmattan in 1995.
Gilles Leydier is Matre de confrences at the Universit Paul Valry (Montpellier), where he teaches 'British civilization' and political science. He has recently contributed to the 'Revue franaise de civilisation britannique' and to the 'Revue frangaise de science politique'.
Dr Michael Saward is Senior Lecturer on Politics at Royal Holloway, University of London. His latest book The Terms of Democracy will be published by Polity Press in 1998. He is author of two previous books on democratic theory.
Dave Edye is Sensor Lecturer in European Politics in the School of European and Language Studies at the University of North London. His publications include Immigrant Labour and Government Policy (Gower 1986) and Contemporary Europe (with Valerio Lintner) (Harvester Wheatsheaf 1996). He is currently researching in the field of'multicultural citizenship'.
Paul Spicker is Senior Lecturer in Social Policy at the university of Dundee. He has written extensively on issues and concepts in social policy; his books include Principles of Social Welfare (Routledge 1988) and Social Policy: themes and approaches (Prentice Hall 1994).
Franois Poirier heads the Centre de recherches Interculturelles Anglophones at Universit Paris 13. He has published numerous papers on English contemporary social and political history and on current affairs. He is the author of Gnration Thatcher, la culture politique de l'Angleterre (1992) and editor of Londres 1939-1945 (1995). Forthcoming works include Le syndicalisme dans l'histoire britannique (1997) and Liverpool, port des extrmes (1998)
Elaine Dubourdieu agrge de i'universit and docteur s lettres, began her teaching career in Zambia and is now matre de confrences at the University of Nantes, France. Her research interests are in the field of race relations, particularly in the United Kingdom and South Africa.
Tariq Modood was a lecturer in political theory before entering racial equality policy work, including at the Commission for Racial Equality. Subsequently he has been a research fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford and University of Manchester, and is now a Programme Director at the Policy Studies Institute. His publications include (co-author) Ethnic Minorities in Britain: Diversity and Disadvantage (PSI 1997); (ed) Church, State and Religious Minorities (PSI 1997), and (ed) The Politics of Multiculturalism in the New Europe (Zed Books 1997).
Dr Monica Dowling is Lecturer in Evaluative Research at Royal Holloway, University of London and is the author of Social Work and Poverty (Avebury 1997). Her current research is on Social Service users' and their carers' experiences of community care, a field in which she has published a number of articles.
Dr Ravinder Barn is Senior Lecturer in Applied Social Studies at Royal Holloway, University of London. Her main research concerns are in the field of ethnic minorities and social work and children in care. She is co-author of Acting on Principle (1997).
Antoine Capet is Professeur de civilisation britannique at the University of Rouen His Doctorat d'tat thesis (Presses de l'Universit de Rouen 1991)on The British Governing Classes and Social Reform 1931-1951 indicates his main line of research: the debate over social policy since the 1930s. He is currently engaged on a comprehensive bibliography covering the wartime period.
Dr John Macnicol is Reader in Social Policy at Royal Holloway, University of London. He is author of a major work on William Beveridge to be published in 1997 and has researched and published extensively on the idea of 'the underclass' both in Britain and the USA.
Timothy Whitton is currently Maitre de conferences at Universit Blaise Pascal, Clermont-Ferrand, where he teaches mainly British civilisation and cultural studies. His research interests include minimum wages, poverty and social policy and he has published a number of articles on these topics. He is currently a member of the Observatoire de la socit britannique contemporaine and the treasurer of the Centre de Recherches et d'Etudes en Civilisation Britannique (CRECIB).
The contributors to this book come from a diversity of academic backgrounds policy analysts, political theorists, historians, academic social work and among the French contributors in particular - analysts of British and French culture. Their interests converge in social and public policy and in particular in policies that are intended to have an impact on inequalities.
The result of their collective endeavours is not therefore - given the breadth of expertise brought to bear - a comparative analysis of French and British policy It is, rather, an implicit critique of'comparative social policy' insofar as the individual chapters demonstrate in a variety of ways how superficial comparative analysis will be if it fails to take account of the social and political context of policy, the differences in policy culture, and the non-transferability of many policy concepts between the two countries. Thus, the complex of ideas that surround the concept of inequality/ingalit mean different things in France and Britain; the moral weight and political urgency that attaches to them is different, and inequality policies though they may appear superficially similar, convey different meanings and evince different moral and political responses.
