This accessible work provides a 'political sociology' of welfare states in industrial societies, with both historical and contemporary perspectives. Ellison focuses on the social and political underpinnings of a number of welfare regimes and looks at the transformations they have undergone and the challenges they face. This book assesses current debates about the role of 'globalization' in welfare state change, paying particular attention to contemporary views about the capacity of embedded institutional structures to limit the effects of global economic pressures. Ellison assesses the changing nature of social policies in nine OECD countries -- selected to include 'liberal, 'social democratic' and 'continental' welfare regimes. Taking labour market and pension policies as the main areas of investigation, this volume provides 'snapshots' of welfare reform in each case, charting the ways in which different regimes 'manage' the range of challenges with which they are confronted. Ultimately, the book suggests that all contemporary welfare regimes are experiencing a level of 'neoliberal drift'.
As yet, this trend towards liberalization remains constrained in those countries with more 'coordinated' economies and institutionalized forms of social partnership -- but the question is for how long? This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of International Politics, Sociology and Social Policy.
Table of Contents:
Contents: Preface. Affect and Creativity. Primary Process, Affect, and Creativity. Children's Fantasy, Play, Affective Expression, and Creativity. The Affect in Play Scale. Personality Trait Approach to Creativity. Mood-Induction and Motivational Systems Approaches to Creativity. Neurological Processes, Artificial Intelligence, and Creativity. Implications for Home, Educational, and Therapeutic Environments. Affective Components of the Creative Process: Conclusions and Future Research Directions. Appendix: The Affect in Play Scale.
Review :
"...a welcome piece of work in an otherwise ignored field....One of the real strengths of the book lies in its interdisciplinary synthesis of relevant empirical findings....offers the field one of its first synthetic models of personality, affect, and cognition....provides a thorough and competent review of the literature in social, personality, developmental, clinical, neurological, and educational psychology areas as they relate to creativity and affect....should be read by any investigator interested in creativity, affect, play, or children's fantasy."
—Creativity Research Journal
"...a useful, well-written book..."
—Cognition and Emotion
"Painstakingly researched, selectively encoded, creatively synthesized and the result is a truly important book. Sandra Russ' own research with play and fantasy in young children is original, heartwarming, and a welcome contribution to a long neglected area. How rewarding to find information long laid away in dusty corners of one's mind fall into affective relevance and begin to spin in creative resonance with this tightly packed, carefully reasoned text."
—Stephanie Z. Dudek
University of Montreal
"In Affect and Creativity, Professor Russ explores the most difficult side of creativity -- the subjective, affective side -- in an objective and convincing manner. [The book] covers all of the critical bases, including primary process, mood, children's play, and neurology, and does so with a careful treatment of the empirical research and a concern for educational and clinical implications. Individuals already studying creativity will no doubt appreciate Russ' efforts, and it would surprise me if Affect and Creativity doesn't attract serious new students to the field."
—Mark Runco
California State University, Fullerton
