Politics, pauperism and power in late nineteenth-century Ireland

ISBN: 9780719073779 出版年：2017 页码：257 Manchester University Press

Politics, pauperism and power is a study of the nature and operation of the Irish poor law system in the post-famine period. It traces the expansion of the system to encompass a wide range of welfare services including health care and housing, and explains the ideological and political context in which this expansion took place. The only local government bodies in rural areas to include elected members, poor law boards provided many Irish nationalists with their first experience of administrative power. AS the influence of the nationalist guardians in the south and west of Ireland grew so the character of poor law administration in these areas began to change. The book explores the nature and significance of this process and through a detailed analysis of local decision-making and official actions, provides a new perspective on relationships between central and local administrators, welfare providers and welfare recipients, and the respectable and non-respectable.