The Politics of Wellbeing

Introduction.- 1: Wellbeing in politics and policy - Ian Bache and Karen Scott.- Part One - Political theory and wellbeing.- 2: The End of History and the Invention of Happiness; Jules Evans.- 3: Well-being and Social Justice: In Defence of the Capabilities Approach; Annie Austin.- 4: The Proper Role for Wellbeing in Public Policy: towards a Pluralist, Pragmatic, Theory-neutral Approach; Tim Taylor.- Part Two - Wellbeing: a force for political change?.- 5: Is wellbeing a useful concept for progressives?; Charles Seaford.- 6: Between Policies and Life: The Political Process of Buen Vivir in Ecuador; Daniela Bressa Florentin.- 7: Challenging the dominant economic narrative through alternative wellbeing indicators: the Canadian experience; Anders Hayden and Jeff Wilson.- 8: Societal Wellbeing - Catalyst for Systems and Social Change in Northern Ireland?; Peter Doran and Susan Hodgett.- Part Three - Between wellbeing policy and everyday lives: critical perspectives.- 9: Reconciling Universal Frameworks and Local Realities in Understanding and Measuring Wellbeing; Allister McGregor.- 10: 'Therapeutic entrepreneurialism' and the undermining of expertise and evidence in the education politics of wellbeing; Kathryn Ecclestone.- 11: Skivers, Strivers and Thrivers: The shift from welfare to wellbeing in New Zealand and the United Kingdom; Karen Scott and Annick Masselot.- 12:The politics of the official statistic: the UK 'Measuring National Well-being' programme; Matt Jenkins.- 

Ian Bache is Professor of Politics and Co-Director of the Centre for Wellbeing in Public Policy at the University of Sheffield, UK.

Karen Scott is Senior Lecturer in Politics at the University of Exeter, UK.