heidi_'s review
5.0
"Our current welfare institutions cannot provide care. Worse, they cannot even speak a language with which we might begin to think warmly and humanly about what is needed. Caring for each other is not about efficiency or units of production. It is about human connection, our development, and at the end our comfort and dignity."
Wonderful analysis of what's wrong with the system we have paired with proven solutions on what can be done to make it better. The foundation of the welfare state envisioned in the Beveridge Report (and largely in the U.S. welfare system) assumes that depersonalized transactions would level the playing field, that care work would be relegated to the unpaid domestic sphere, and that an industrial management style would be most effective in the distribution of social services. Eighty years ago, this orientation addressed a multitude of post-war social needs. The unprecedented complexity of our 21st century social ills can no longer be addressed using this outdated mentality. Cottam calls for a new framework that allows for us to truly care for each other, focused first and foremost on the power of relationships.
Through her five experiments, she reveals tried and true insights on how we can invert traditional welfare paradigms to empower and support people to improve their lives. She takes a holistic view of what is needed not only to survive, but to flourish — the capability to work and learn, to be healthy, to be part of the community, and to nurture relationships — and backtracks to create programs which take real-life constraints and motivations into account. Through fostering relationships between care workers and those seeking help, as well as providing the space for those seeking help to improve their existing relationships, we are better able to see real needs and disrupt limiting narratives.
"What we can be or do depends upon our inner worlds, our beliefs, our self-confidence, our skills and our concrete realities: where we live, whether we have money, and how we are connected. These internal factors and the wider webs and structures we are part of determine what real possibilities we have in our lives."
The ability to perform this holistic, empowering work is largely predicated on systems which operate in opposition to any altruistic aims. Funding follows metric evaluations which fail to capture qualitative realities, disincentivizing many well-meaning professionals and politicians from making the major changes needed to break the mold. Innovation is championed and praised for its inspirational qualities until it becomes a threat — then the system aggressively reasserts itself. Public policy has the sole ability to shake existing foundations to create an atmosphere that supports the passionate work done in smaller, grassroots circles.
"Only the state, our leaders and political actors can create the pivot we need, developing the new framework, supporting the vision and nurturing the principles that will guide the behavior, funding and activities of others."
Thank you, Hilary, for your compassionate vision of what future systems could be like.
Wonderful analysis of what's wrong with the system we have paired with proven solutions on what can be done to make it better. The foundation of the welfare state envisioned in the Beveridge Report (and largely in the U.S. welfare system) assumes that depersonalized transactions would level the playing field, that care work would be relegated to the unpaid domestic sphere, and that an industrial management style would be most effective in the distribution of social services. Eighty years ago, this orientation addressed a multitude of post-war social needs. The unprecedented complexity of our 21st century social ills can no longer be addressed using this outdated mentality. Cottam calls for a new framework that allows for us to truly care for each other, focused first and foremost on the power of relationships.
Through her five experiments, she reveals tried and true insights on how we can invert traditional welfare paradigms to empower and support people to improve their lives. She takes a holistic view of what is needed not only to survive, but to flourish — the capability to work and learn, to be healthy, to be part of the community, and to nurture relationships — and backtracks to create programs which take real-life constraints and motivations into account. Through fostering relationships between care workers and those seeking help, as well as providing the space for those seeking help to improve their existing relationships, we are better able to see real needs and disrupt limiting narratives.
"What we can be or do depends upon our inner worlds, our beliefs, our self-confidence, our skills and our concrete realities: where we live, whether we have money, and how we are connected. These internal factors and the wider webs and structures we are part of determine what real possibilities we have in our lives."
The ability to perform this holistic, empowering work is largely predicated on systems which operate in opposition to any altruistic aims. Funding follows metric evaluations which fail to capture qualitative realities, disincentivizing many well-meaning professionals and politicians from making the major changes needed to break the mold. Innovation is championed and praised for its inspirational qualities until it becomes a threat — then the system aggressively reasserts itself. Public policy has the sole ability to shake existing foundations to create an atmosphere that supports the passionate work done in smaller, grassroots circles.
"Only the state, our leaders and political actors can create the pivot we need, developing the new framework, supporting the vision and nurturing the principles that will guide the behavior, funding and activities of others."
Thank you, Hilary, for your compassionate vision of what future systems could be like.
joppiereading's review
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.75
A wonderful manifesto to changing, perhaps saving or improving, the welfare state, that sees the solution outside of the state: in our relationships with each other, in our own ability to find new purpose and connect if we want to. Cottam does a great job of explaining a lot of complicated things, in a very accessible way, and of proposing an alternative without becoming dogmatic.
P.S. It’s a great book for book clubs.
P.S. It’s a great book for book clubs.
Content Warnings
Minor: Body shaming, Child abuse, Mental illness, Classism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Medical content, Abandonment, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, and Chronic illness
clormack's review against another edition
5.0
“To stimulate love, joy and hope, the emotions that lead to and sustain change, you need others. The love, joy and hope that make up a good life are dependent on good relationships, which is why in turn we need a relational approach to any future welfare solutions and, if we are going to measure, we need to find a way to keep these human factors in view while not reducing them to yet another exercise in box-ticking.”
Hilary Cottam outlines with precision how our existing post-war welfare arrangements (Social Work, youth services, Jobcentres, the NHS and elderly social care) are under intolerable strain because they are no longer fit for purpose nor are they designed for our current demographics, cultures or experiences. Policy must be rooted in everyday lives at a *granular* understanding in order to see change.
Cottam beams optimism for practitioners and people of all ages, attitudes and abilities as she models her services on abundance: what we have and what we can do, starting with human relationships.
Honestly a gold star book. Finally a glimmer of hope for how we can all begin to live good lives full of capability and continual growth, not threadbare with scarcity and misunderstanding.
Hilary Cottam outlines with precision how our existing post-war welfare arrangements (Social Work, youth services, Jobcentres, the NHS and elderly social care) are under intolerable strain because they are no longer fit for purpose nor are they designed for our current demographics, cultures or experiences. Policy must be rooted in everyday lives at a *granular* understanding in order to see change.
Cottam beams optimism for practitioners and people of all ages, attitudes and abilities as she models her services on abundance: what we have and what we can do, starting with human relationships.
Honestly a gold star book. Finally a glimmer of hope for how we can all begin to live good lives full of capability and continual growth, not threadbare with scarcity and misunderstanding.
whatdotheyknowaboutfriends's review
4.0
Well worth reading for social workers, policy wonks, librarians, elected officials, or anyone whose work or interests touch the idea of poverty and anti-poverty programs. I don't think Cottam has all the answers, and there is definitely a bit of credulousness on her part. Evidence is often presented as an aside, though there is plenty of anecdata. I don't doubt that Cottam's programs work, but I have many unanswered questions about scale, and how they will sit alongside other anti-poverty approaches. While the book is missing some of the hard work required to scale this and adequately replace the full function of the welfare state, its an invaluable perspective that points us towards a better tomorrow.
cameroncl's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
reflective
fast-paced
3.0
An interesting read reexamining the top-down, issue-management structure of the welfare state (particularly, but not exclusively, the British welfare state). An interesting catchment of case studies from the author's history in social work/welfare policy. The book felt like it needed more connective tissue between them though.