Introduction: everyday welfare in modern British history

Abstract

Everyday Welfare in Modern British History addresses forms of action and activism used by individuals and groups who undertake the work of experiential expertise in relation to welfare cultures. In this Introduction we conceive of “experiential experts” as individuals whose action and activism have been catalysed by their personal experiences and knowledge. These individuals have asserted an expert witness status in welfare practice and sought out new forums to expand the scope, inclusivity and applicability of welfare services. We utilise Robert Pinker’s idea of “a state of welfare” as the springboard to re-conceptualise the history of everyday welfare in twentieth-century Britain. In doing so, we engage anew with what Pinker argued was the need to consider welfare through the lens of people “faring well”. Building on this intervention the chapters in the book offer routes into examining ways people identified with how to live a life where they “far[ed] well”, contested models of “faring well” that were applied to them through formal welfare provision and protested perceived injustices around what it meant to “fare well”.

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