War and Change Flashcards
Give 4 factors that are interlinked with welfare and social change
War
Economy
Politics
Bureaucracy
Give 4 reasons why war is interlinked with social/welfare change
Provoking war to prevent and contain social and political change (Germany, Russia/Japan) - Overturn the international status quo in order to maintain the national status quo
Social and political change can be imposed by victors (Japan 1947)
Preparing for war - concern about the extent of physical deterioration following the Boer War
Richard Titmus - War causes social discipline and social equality
Outline the 4 stages in the relationship between war and the development of social welfare provisions (Titmus)
- The growing scale of war prompted concerns about population quantity in 19thC Britain
- As techniques of war became more physically and physiologically demanding, there was a shift of focus from quantity to quality of soldiers
- Concern about the fitness of fighting men is generalised to the whole population (Boer War)
- Direct participation in war is no longer restricted to soldiers but involves civilians in large numbers
What did Titmus argue in his 1955 lecture ‘War and Social Policy’
The social measures that were developed during the war centred around the primary needs of the whole population irrespective of class, creed or military category
The waging of modern war imposes a great increase in the need of social discipline. This discipline is only tolerable if social inequalities are not intolerable
“Therefore, the aims and content of social policy, both in peace and in war, are thus determined by how far the cooperation of the masses is essential to the successful prosecution of war. If this co-operation is thought to be essential, then inequalities must be reduced and the pyramid of social stratification must be flattened”
Give two examples of war redistributing power and status in society
David Shackleton - weaver, trade unionists and Labour MP. Surely not a coincidence that he is knighted and promoted to the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Labour in 1917
WWI caused a huge increase in the size and power of trade unions, only to fall afterwards
Give Britain’s economic situation relative to Germany and the USA
Britain’s GDP was still growing, but not as fast as Germany or the USA
By 1913, Britain still held the majority of world shares in world manufacturing exports, but her world shares were falling in contrast to USA and Germany
Give 3 ways in which the economy and social/welfare change are interlinked
Fears of economic decline
Fears of falling birth rate (Germany has a particularly young population - ideal for manpower and industry)
Improve the efficiency of labour (Social policy) - health insurance keeps worker productivity high by reducing time spent ill of work. Social policies can be seen in Britain’s economic anxiety (geopolitical imperative to have a highly efficient labour force)
Give 3 ways on which politics and social/welfare change are interlinked
Social legislation as the obverse of democracy
- Politics will come to be about the material interests of poorer and poorer populations
Social legislation as the opposite of socialism, and an antidote to it
- Bismark’s reforms were seen to take the wind out of the socialist’s sails
Keeping up with other countries
– Lloyd George was impressed by Germany’s social schemes and intended to do better in order to retain Britain remaining as the greater imperial power
How is bureaucracy interlinked with social/welfare change
- Bureaucratic as status maximisers
2. Incrementalism – leads to policies that were never envisaged