Spiritual Capital and Economies of Grace: Redefining the Relationship between Religion and the Welfare State

Baker, Christopher. 2012. Spiritual Capital and Economies of Grace: Redefining the Relationship between Religion and the Welfare State. Social Policy and Society, 11(04), pp. 565-576. ISSN 1474-7464 [Article]

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Abstract or Description

This article traces the trajectory of UK government social policy since World War Two, with particular reference to the shifts in the past 10 to 15 years towards concepts such as multi-level governance, localism, the Third Way and the Big Society. It describes the shifting relationships between institutional religion and the State during that period, tracking the ‘return of faith’ in government policy and social welfare as it seeks to address a number of intractable social and economic issues related to cohesion and inequality, as well as a perceived absence of moral and ethical norms within public life. The article proposes a set of new analytical concepts (based on recent empirical research from the US and the UK) which seek to describe and evaluate this new ‘post-secular’ relationship between faith and government. The article concludes that the new ‘post-welfare’ landscape will continue to play well to the existing strengths and positionalities of religion, faith and spirituality in the UK as the twenty-first century moves into its second decade.

Item Type:

Article

Identification Number (DOI):

https://doi.org/10.1017/S1474746412000279

Keywords:

Post-welfare, post-secular, religious and spiritual capital, virtue economy, localism, governance

Departments, Centres and Research Units:

Social, Therapeutic & Community Engagement (STaCS)

Dates:

DateEvent
1 October 2012Published
2 July 2012Published Online

Item ID:

21858

Date Deposited:

09 Oct 2017 12:30

Last Modified:

09 Oct 2017 12:30

Peer Reviewed:

Yes, this version has been peer-reviewed.

URI:

https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/21858

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