Citation

Lunt N. Int. J. Soc. Welf. 2009; 18(1): 3-12.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1468-2397.2008.00557.x

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Since 1999 New Zealand has seen the election of a series of Labour-led governments committed to a social policy framework of social development. This article outlines the background to the emergence of social development, tracing its antecedents in the neo-liberal administrations of the 1990s. The social development framework consists of commitments around economic development, human capital development, family development and politico-administrative redevelopment. Taking the position that reforms must be seen as concrete policy mechanisms and as discursive cues and conceptual apparatus, the article offers a comparison and critique. First, it identifies the continuities and contrasts with the previous neo-liberal framework of minimal social policy; and second, it begins the process of critically interrogating the potential citizenship implications of social development.