Introduction
The London School of Economics’ Social Policy department defines Social Policy as: “an interdisciplinary and applied subject concerned with the analysis of societies' responses to social need”. Harvard University defines it as "[the] public policy and practice in the areas of health care, human services, criminal justice, inequality, education, and labour". The broadness of the subject area means that items on social policy history are scattered across the geographically arranged collections. We do have worldwide holdings on all aspects of social policy, but particular strengths in the UK, North America and Western Europe. Our resources i.e. books, reports and academic journals cover social work, social policy administration, comparative research, and research into international institutions, plus policy-making processes and practice, governance and management including delivery and use.
A selection will be listed here and a wider range of material relevant for this field of research can be browsed on the catalogue. Useful search terms are listed below. Do also check out our guide for UK parliamentary sources as that kind of material would be essential for research into social policy.
Highlights from the Collections
Bibliographies and Archive Guides
- Gutton, Jean-Pierre, Guide du chercheur en histoire de la protection sociale. [Vol. 1], fin du Moyen Age - 1789
- Archives de l'Etat à Liège., Inventaire des archives de la Fondation Stephany / par Françoise Lecomte.
- Bono, Paola, Radicals and reformers in late eighteenth-century Scotland : an annotated checklist of books, pamphlets, and documents printed in Scotland, 1775-1800
- Archives nationales (France), Commission de la liberté individuelle (1802-1814) : inventaire des articles O2 1430 à 1436 et CC 60 à 63
- Haan, S. W. M. A. den., Inventaris van het archief van het Heilige Geest- of Arme Wees- en Kinderhuis te Leiden 1334-1979
General
- Slack, Paul, From Reformation to improvement : public welfare in early modern England : the Ford Lectures delivered at the University of Oxford, 1994-1995
- McBriar, A. M., An Edwardian mixed doubles : the Bosanquets versus the Webbs: a study in British social policy 1890-1929
- Thane, Pat, Foundations of the welfare state
- Brown, J, Ideas concerning social policy and their influence on legislation in Britain, 1902 - 11
- Levitt, Ian, Government and social conditions in Scotland, 1845 - 1919
- Stremmel Ralf, et a, Grundfragen der Sozialpolitik in der öffentlichen Diskussion: Kirchen, Parteien, Vereine und Verbände. Part of the series Quellensammlung zur Geschichte der deutschen Sozial politik 1867 bis 1914.
State Welfare, Social Services and Healthcare
Some useful keyword and subject search terms: Health care reform, Sanitation, Public health, Welfare state, Poor.
- Shaw and Sons, Shaw’s union officers’ and local boards of health manual for 1859
- An Act for establishing a select vestry in the parish of Saint Pancras, in the county of Middlesex: and for other purposes relating thereto: to which is added, an act for the better regulation of vestries, &c. in England and Wales.
- Neate, Alan Robert, The St. Marylebone Workhouse and Institution, 1730-1965
- London. Court of Common Council. Library Committee, Supplement to the "memoranda relating to the royal hospitals" : consisting of original documents from the record office, the British Museum, the privy council, the archives of the city, etc.
- Canning, Richard, 1708-1775., An account of the gifts and legacies that have been given and bequeathed to charitable uses in the town of Ipswich : also, abstracts of charters and acts of Parliament relating to the improvement of the town, together with some account of the various public institutions, charity schools, benevolent societies, &c. &c.
- Great Britain. Parliament, 1818. House of Commons. Reports and papers, Abridgement of the Abstract of the answers and returns made pursuant to an act, passed in the fifty-fifth year of His Majesty King George the Third, intituled, "An act for procuring returns relative to the expence and maintenance of the poor in England; and also relative to the highways:--so far as relates to the poor"
- The reports of the commissioners appointed in pursuance of various acts of Parliament, to enquire concerning charities in England and Wales relating to the county of Kent, 1819-1837.
- Chadwick, Edwin, 1800-1890.,The sanitary condition of the labouring population of Gt. Britain
- Hampton, Jameel, Disability and the welfare state in Britain : changes in perception and policy 1948-1979
- East Suffolk Hand-in-Hand Benefit Society and Sickness Club., Rules, regulations and tables of the East Suffolk Hand-in-Hand Benefit Society and Sickness Club.
- Manuel, Ravina Martin, Inventario de los fondos de beneficencia [del] Archivo Histórico Provincial de Cádiz / por Manuel Ravina Martin [y] Alberto Sanz Trelles.
- Kellerhals, Andreas & Arlettaz, Gerald, Geschichte der sozialversicherungen = l'histoire des assurances sociales
Charities
Some useful keyword and subject search terms: Charities, Philanthropists, Charitable uses, trusts and foundations.
- Tolley, George, 1925-, We, of our bounty: a history of the Sheffield Church Burgesses: (the twelve capital burgesses and commonalty of the town and parish of Sheffield in the county of York)
- The Hellard Almshouses and other Stevenage charities, 1482-2005 / edited and with an introduction by Margaret Ashby and with a preface by Evelyn Lord
- Loes, Hoxne, Thredling and Plomesgate hundreds Provident Society and Sickness Club., Rules, regulations and tables of the Loes, Hoxne, Thredling and Plomesgate hundreds Provident Society and Sickness Club.
- Great Britain. Parliament, 1818. House of Commons. Reports and papers, Abridgement of the Abstract of the answers and returns made pursuant to an act, passed in the fifty-fifth year of His Majesty King George the Third, intituled, "An act for procuring returns relative to the expence and maintenance of the poor in England; and also relative to the highways:--so far as relates to the poor"
- The reports of the commissioners appointed in pursuance of various acts of Parliament, to enquire concerning charities in England and Wales relating to the county of Kent, 1819-1837.
- Enzyklopädie des Stiftungswesens in mittelalterlichen Gesellschaften / unter Mitarbeit von Zachary Chitwood ... [et al.] herausgegeben von Michael Borgolte.
- France. Assemblée nationale constituante (1789-1791). Comité des mendicités, Procès-verbaux et rapports du Comité de mendicité de la Constituante 1790-91 / pub. et annotés par Camille Bloch [et] Alexandre Tuetey.
- Troconis de Veracoechea, Ermila., Las obras pías en la Iglesia colonial venezolana.
- Rolando, Carlos A., 1881-, Historia de la Sociedad Filantrópica del Gua
- St. Andrew's Society of the City of Charleston, Charleston, S.C., Rules of the St. Andrew's society, of the city of Charleston, South Carolina: founded in the year one thousand seven hundred and twenty-nine. Incorporated in 1798.
- Georgia Historical Records Survey, Directory of community service organizations in Georgia / Prepared by the Georgia Historical Records Survey, Division of Community Service Programs, Works Projects Administration.
- Beaglehole, John Cawte, Captain Hobson and the New Zealand company : a study in colonial administration
- Clark, Dora Mae, The rise of the British Treasury : colonial administration in the eighteenth century
- Westlake, Herbert Francis, 1879-1925., The parish gilds of mediæval England
- Clay, Rotha Mary, The mediæval hospitals of England
- Haesenne-Peremans, Nicole., Les pauvres et le pouvoir : assistance et répression au pays de Liège (1685-1830)
Education
Some useful keyword and subject search terms: Literacy, Schools, Educational law and legislation.
- Morton, Ann, Education and the state from 1833
- Willard, James. F, The royal authority and the early English universities
- Ford, P & G, Education / Celina Fox… [et al.] ; Gillian Sutherland (general editor)
- England, Joe, Changing lives: workers’ education in Wales, 1907-2007
- Tarbutt, William., An historical account of Dence's school and schoolmasters, from 1568, to 1885 : with some information respecting other public endowments, under the will of Alexander Dence
- Santander, Francisco de Paula, Obra educativa de Santander / [compilación, Luis Horacio López Domínguez] ; prólogo, Jorge Eliécer Ruiz.
- Lindon-Fuentes, Héctor, Modernizing minds in El Salvador : education reform and the Cold War, 1960-1980 / Héctor Lindo-Fuentes and Erik Ching
- Sanz, Víctor, La labor cultural de las Cámaras del 73 / Advertencia de Eugenio Petit Munoz
- Riggan, Jennifer, The Struggling State Nationalism, Militarism, and the Education of Eritrea
- L’éducation nationale : le Ministère, l'administration centrale, les services / ouvrage collectif rédigé sous la direction de Jean-Louis Crémieux-Brilhac ; préface de Francis-Louis Closon.
- Ozouf, Mona, L’école, l’église et la république, 1871 - 1914
- Une éducation pour la démocratie : textes et projets de l’époque révolutionnaire / présentation, introductions et notes par Bronislaw Baczko.
- L'enseignement du français à l'école primaire : textes officiels concernant l'enseignement primaire de la Révolution à nos jours. Tome 1, 1791-1879 / présentés par André Chervel avec la collaboration de Pierre Coll.
- Liberté D’Enseignement : Rapports aux Chambres.
- Die Schule in Staat und Gesellschaft : Dokumente zur deutschen Schulgeschichte im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert / Berthold Michael, Heinz-Hermann Schepp.
- Kahler, Wilhelm, Noch hundert Tage bis Hitler : die Erinnerungen des Reichskommisars Wilhelm Kähler / Eckhard Oberdörfer (Hg.).
- Schule und Absolutismus in Preussen : Akten zum preussischen Elementarschulwesen bis 1806 / bearbeitet und herausgegeben von Wolfgang Neugebauer.
- Bologna. Universita. Natio Germanica., Statuta nationis Germanicae Universitatis Bononiae (1292-1750) / a cura e con introduzione di Paolo Colliva.
- L'università italiana : repertorio di atti e provvedimenti ufficiali, 1859-1914 / a cura di Ilaria Porciani.
- Wal, S.L. van der, Het onderwijsbeleid in Nederlands-Indië, 1900-1940 : een bronnenpublikatie = Education policy in the Netherlands-Indies, 1900-1940 / bewerkt door S.L. van der Wal.
- Mary Mcleod Bethune, Mary McLeod Bethune: Building a better world: essays and selected documents
Criminal Justice, Inequality and Civil Rights
Some useful keyword and subject search terms:
Discrimination, Equality, Prisons, Criminal justice, administration of criminal justice, criminal law, civil rights.
- Scarman, Leslie George Scarman, Baron, The Brixton disorders, 10-12 April 1981: report of an enquiry / by Lord Scarman ; presented to parliament by the Secretary of State for the Home Department by command of Her Majesty, November 1981.
- The Complete Bill of Rights: the drafts, debates, sources and origins
- McDouall, Andrew, Lord Bankton., An institute of the laws of Scotland in civil rights with observations upon the agreement or diversity between them and the laws of England in four books after the general method of the Viscount of Stair's Institutions
- Sandoz, Mari, 1896-1966, I do not apologize for the length of this letter" : the Mari Sandoz letters on Native American rights, 1940-1965
- Clark, Clinton, Remember my sacrifice: the autobiography of Clinton Clark, tenant farm organizer and early civil rights activist
- Proceedings of the Black national and state conventions, 1865-1900
- Verga, Marcello, Da "cittadini" a "nobili" : lotta politica e riforma delle istituzioni nella Toscana di Francesco Stefano,
- Fuentes para la historia del trabajo en el Reino de Chile: legislación, 1546-1810 / [recopilación de] Alvaro Jara, Sonia Pinto.
Periodicals
- Comparative studies in Society and History (Vol. 1-, 1958-)
- Crime, Histoire Societies (Vol. 1- , 1997- )
- Cultural and Social History (Vol.1- , 2004- )
- History of the Family (Vol. 1-, 1996- )
- History workshop journal (Vol. 1-, 1976- )
- International Labour and working-class History (No. 33-, 1988- )
- International review of social History (Vol.26-, 1981- )
- Journal of family history (Vol. 1-, 1976- )
- Journal of Modern History (Vol. 1-15, 1929-1943; Vol. 17-, 1945- )
- Journal of Social History (Vol. 2-, 1968/69- )
- Journal of women’s History (vol. 1- , 1989- )
- Labour History review (Vol. 55-, 1990- )
- Medical History (Vol. 1-, 1957- )
- Rural History: Economic, Society and Culture (Vol. 1-, 1990- )
- Social History of medicine (Vol. 1- , 1988- )
Theses
See more information on our theses holdings.
- Duncker, Sheila Joan The free coloured and their fight for civil rights in Jamaica 1800-1830, 1960
- Balfour, Sebastian Michael. The remaking of the Spanish labour movement: social change, urban growth and working-class militancy in Barcelona 1939-1976
- Shubert, Adrian, The social origins of labour militancy: Asturias, 1860-1934.
- Kulasekera, Kulasekera Mudiyanselage Padmasiri, British administration in the Kandyan Provinces of Sri Lanka, 1815-1833: with special reference to social change
Online Resources
Online resources related to Social Policy history are listed below and via the catalogue, and are available onsite from IHR library PCs. With the exception of the Churchill Archive, offsite access is mostly limited to staff and students of the IHR due to licence restrictions. At the moment Wi-Fi-access in the building is treated as offsite, although we are hoping to get this changed. See also Senate House Library Databases and eResources.
- Bibliography of British and Irish History (formerly RHS Bibliography)
- Churchill Archive (see further guidance)
- Global Commodities
- JStor
- The Journal of social welfare & family law
- Sociological research
- Analyses of social issues and public policy
E-Books
- Canning, Richard, 1708-1775., An account of the gifts and legacies that have been given and bequeathed to charitable uses in the town of Ipswich : also, abstracts of charters and acts of Parliament relating to the improvement of the town, together with some account of the various public institutions, charity schools, benevolent societies, &c. &c.
- Aderinto, Saheed, When sex threatened the state [electronic resource] : illicit sexuality, nationalism, and politics in colonial Nigeria, 1900-1958
Other Collections
- Senate House Library
- Institute of Education
- London School of Economics and Political Science. LSE houses the oldest department of social policy in UK and its library is very comprehensive in this area of research.
- National Archives in Kew houses vast material of records and archives.
- London Metropolitan archives for focus on social policy in London.
Further Help
Contact us if you would like help on finding or using our collections, or if you have any comments or suggestions about the content of this guide. We are happy to help.
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