Inequality, Education, and Social Exclusion in the Welfare State

Focusing specifically on educational contexts, this volume sheds light on how the increasing inequalities and issues of social exclusion found in the processes and systems of Nordic welfare states have a detrimental impact on the well-being and development opportunities of children and young people.

Presenting a broad range of empirical and theoretical research conducted within a variety of institutional contexts – such as day care, school, and leisure pedagogy as well as in more domestic, disadvantaged settings – chapters analyse problems and issues which foster inequality within pedagogy and education in predominantly Danish, and more broadly Nordic, welfare state contexts. Using insights from various scientific disciplines such as psychology, sociology, and anthropology, the volume discusses how these processes are acted out not only within welfare education systems, but more broadly within social and educational policy legislation, directly affecting decisions taken for children and young people. Ultimately the volume looks to the wider international context to argue that inequality cannot be analysed solely in relation to income, and discusses different forms of inequality stemming from liberal, conservative, and social democratic welfare state regimes in order to recommend implications for future research.

This book will be of interest to researchers, academics, and postgraduate students in the fields of sociology of education, childhood education and social inequalities within education more broadly. Policy makers in these fields will also find the book useful.