LIBRI DI PETE ALCOCK

All societies are unequal to some extent; but the scale of these inequalities matters in both the practice and the politics of welfare. This paper argues that the scale of the gap between those at the bottom and those at the top can mean that both economically and culturally rich and poor people within the same society can feel as though they are living in different worlds. For those in the middle the collective investment of the welfare state in their common good has been lost. In my paper I argue that we can restore a common cause in promoting the common good across the poor and vulnerable, the new middle class and the (increasingly) super rich, only when all involved can see a shared interest in their investment in the welfare services which are necessary and beneficial to all.

La ricerca evidenzia come la povertà, seppure con intensità e durata differente, non riguardi soltanto individui e gruppi sociali marginali, ma si estenda, in modo crescente, ad altri gruppi sociali, che hanno condizioni di vita normalmente adeguate. La povertà non è il prodotto di processi di esclusione sociale irreversibili, ma è espressione di una instabilità delle relazioni sociali, di una precarietà che coinvolge il lavoro, le relazioni familiari e riguarda l’insufficienza degli attuali sistemi di welfare.

Poverty Dynamics Revisited: from Methods to Substance. The Development of Longitudinal Research in the UK - The benefits of a longitudinal or dynamic approach to research are now widely accepted. In recent years, the availability of such data continues to improve, covering administrative based sources (including population registers) as well as sample surveys. Further features of this research field include; (a) a growing recognition of the usefulness of qualitative approaches to the collection and analysis of longitudinal data, and (b) an emphasis on the policy implications from longitudinal analysis given analysts’ increased familiarity with the technical challenges posed by such data. Theoretical developments have examined the concept of ‘resilience’, and continue to address questions of structure and agency and the unfolding of differentiated life-courses.