Social Relations and Social Exclusion: Rethinking Political Economy

225 Pages·2012·3.027 MB·English

by  Peter Somerville

Social Relations and Social Exclusion
Social Relations and Social Exclusion sets out a new approach to understanding society, based
on rational choice theory.
Starting from a few simple assumptions about the nature and context of human action,
this book provides a complete reinterpretation of our major social institutions. Its central
aim is to see how far social relations can be explained on the basis of human beings acting in
their own interests rather than as helpless puppets of wider social forces.
The institutions examined by the book include households, communities, workplaces,
social classes and the state. In each case, it is shown how the institution forms a context
within which social interaction can be explained in terms of the rational decision taken by
the actors involved.
A key question in the book is why people choose to enter into social relations in which
they are exploited, and the question is answered mainly by reference to established forms of
rule that lead people to believe they have no choice. The book criticises the current form of
such rule in Britain, arguing strongly that it does not have to be like this. It argues for a
rethinking of social policies, based on sound principles of universal human liberation.
Peter Somerville is Professor in Social Policy at the University of Lincolnshire and
Humberside. He has published widely on issues of housing, social exclusion and community
empowerment.
http://avaxho.me/blogs/ChrisRedfield
Routledge Studies in Governance and Public Policy
1 Public Sector Ethics
Finding and implementing values
Edited by Charles Sampford and Noel Preston with Carol-Anne Bois
2 Ethics and Political Practice
Perspectives on legislative ethics
Edited by Noel Preston and Charles Sampford with Carol-Anne Bois
3 Why Does Policy Change?
Lessons from British transport policy 1945–99
Jeremy Richardson and Geoffrey Dudley
4 Social Relations and Social Exclusion
Rethinking political economy
Peter Somerville
Social Relations and
Social Exclusion
Rethinking political economy
Peter Somerville
London and New York
First published 2000
by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2001.
© 2000 Peter Somerville
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in
any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter
invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Somerville, Peter.
Social relations and social exclusion: rethinking political economy / Peter Somerville.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index
1. Social institutions. 2. Rational choice theory. I. Title.
HM826.S65 2000
306–dc21 00–042220
ISBN 0–415–24040–9 (Print Edition)
ISBN 0-203-18497-1 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-18506-4 (Glassbook Format)
Contents
List of tables vii
Preface ix
Acknowledgements xi
1 Introduction: a theory of social relations 1
2 Households and families 13
3 Communities and community development 48
4 Contractual relations and social divisions 88
5 State–citizen relations and social justice 112
6 Policy implications: the case of housing 144
7 Conclusion 165
Bibliography 183
Index 205

Tables
2.1 Distribution of household financial management systems 26
3.1 Types of social relations 51
3.2 The relative power of locals and newcomers 64
6.1 A typology of housing regimes 145

Preface
This book came to be written as a reaction against the widespread view that sees human
beings as the creatures of impersonal social forces such as the market, the state and class
struggle. While not wishing to deny the powerlessness of so many individuals in the face of
the overwhelming might of mass organisations, this book argues uncompromisingly that we
are not victims of such powers except insofar as we choose to be so. Our choices are constrained
by the contexts within which we act, but these constraints do not enslave us. Far from it:
contexts themselves provide opportunities for action and therefore make liberation possible.
The message of this book is that freedom in this sense is personally and politically achievable.
Peter Somerville
University of Lincolnshire and Humberside