Sheying Chen – författare

This perceptive volume presents conceptual, theoretical, and empirical approaches to social policy analysis comparing China and Nordic countries in their treatment of the elderly. An international panel of experts offers valuable policy insights into issues of housing, community care, family care, pensions and social security, and mental health as China translates and adapts Western examples, particularly those set by Norway, Sweden, and Finland. The book contrasts shared issues in the contexts of economic history, accountability and service improvements, and sustainability while also examining specifically Chinese problems such as care gaps between urban and rural elders. Coverage also considers the centrality of aging policy in China as the nation works toward its long-term goal of eradicating poverty.

Included among the topics:

Aging Welfare and Social Policy will interest professionals and researchers addressing questions of Chinese and comparative social policy, health psychologists, and sociologists focused on family, youth, and aging.  

The discipline of social policy, oftentimes deemed a part of social work as a profession, was born in the West. Unlike social policy that started with the post-war idea of a welfare state in the mid-20th century, social work traces its roots to individual casework pioneered by the Charity Organization Society (COS), early social administration including state-wide poverty relief (an advocacy effort of the COS but with deep roots in the English Poor Laws of the 17th century), and social action emphasizing political activities to improve social conditions (originating from the Settlement House Movement which began in the 1880s).

The development of social work is historically intertwined with that of public welfare, philanthropy, and charity and is an inherently international subject. This conception is broader than “international social work” as a discrete field of professional practice, which crosses geopolitical borders and all levels of social and economic organizations with a focus on development. However, each nation has a story of its own in terms of professionalization of social work in the evolution of public welfare and philanthropic/charitable undertaking within its particular economic, political, social, and cultural settings. A wide-ranging and in-depth study of various (especially non-Western) country cases is essential to an adequate, comprehensive understanding of the social work profession, which is also a basic requirement of its value of diversity.

China is undoubtedly an important case with the largest population on earth. It’s also unique in view of so-called Chinese characteristics which are sometimes fundamentally different from other (particularly Western) societies. It’s even intriguing given the country’s lengthy, complex history and its recent, rapid rise to a global superpower with a claim of national goals and core values that seem to be rather considerable to social work as a helping profession. Therefore, any significant lessons learned from the Chinese experiences would help with a better international understanding and further advancement of social work and public welfare at a global scale.

Research on healthcare and social service including professional social work is inherently an international subject. Each nation has a story of coping with the recent pandemic in the context of its political economy and cultural-historical settings. A study of various (especially non-Western) cases is essential to an adequate understanding of the undertaking.

China is undoubtedly an important case with one of the largest populations on earth. It’s unique in view of so-called Chinese characteristics/style/model, sometimes fundamentally different from Western societies. Any lessons learned from the Chinese experiences would help with a better understanding of healthcare and social welfare provisions on a global scale.

The book is written by a scholarly team who are experts in healthcare, social work, and related fields. Its primary audiences are scholars and students in Health/Mental Health, Social Work/Welfare/Services, Public/Social Policy, Philanthropy and Nonprofit Organizations, International/Cross-Cultural Studies, and Chinese/China research.