Call for papers on CSP themed issue: Welfare and Warfare

Critical Social Policy invites submissions for a themed edition on welfare and warfare

In the UK there is a longstanding and complex relationship between welfare and warfare. Historically, war has sometimes led to developments in state welfare by, for example, raising awareness of ill-health amongst the working class (Boer War), or wartime governments promising welfare as a dividend of peace (e.g. ‘homes fit for heroes’ after World War One and the creation of the NHS after World War Two). War also led to the UK’s first disability rights legislation: the Disabled Persons (Employment) Act 1944 was fuelled by concern about the opportunities available to disabled ex-servicemen.

Since the end of the second World War, the UK and many other Western nations have lived as if in peace. However, the reality is that wars have continued to be fought across the globe, sometimes directly involving troops from global superpowers, but often fought by their proxies. The so-called era of peace since 1945 has in fact been a period of intense and ongoing warfare in many parts of the Global South, with conflicts between and within countries almost always caused by the divisive legacies of colonisation and/or fuelled by imperial desires to bring about regime change and take control of natural resources. While Western Europe has seen a peace dividend and the development of welfare states since 1945, other parts of the world have either lost the opportunity to develop much-needed welfare programmes or had their burgeoning welfare systems destroyed by war.

Wars in Africa, the Middle East and elsewhere have caused significant refugee flows into Europe and South Asia, as well as displacement within the regions themselves; wars in South America – including the ‘war on drugs’ – have likewise caused substantial migration into North America. Globally, refugees are increasingly scapegoated for damaging social cohesion and usurping housing, health and educational resources at the cost of the existing population. International conflicts and wars can also spill over into conflict among diasporic populations, as can be currently seen in the cases of wars in Palestine and Iran, with increases in both Islamophobia and antisemitism evident in countries across the world.

The USA, Russia and China continue to allocate substantial budgets to defence, with President Trump urging members of the NATO alliance to do likewise. In response, both the UK and other members of the European Union are openly discussing cutting back on welfare in order to spend more on defence. Even without further outbreaks of war, this change in public spending priorities may have profound social and economic implications. 

Foreign policy, geopolitical economy and defence expenditure have not traditionally formed a part of social policy analysis, yet much of what takes place in these arenas has profound impact on social and welfare policy as well as social cohesion. This themed issue therefore invites critical social policy analysts to explore questions including – but not limited to – the following:

1. What is the relationship between welfare and warfare in different national and/or geo-political contexts?

2. How do ‘far off’ wars affect community relations and cohesion in other national contexts?

3. In what ways does warfare impede the development of welfare services in the Global South?

4. In what ways does warfare, and/or preparation for war, affect welfare provision in mature welfare states?

5. What, if any, opportunities exist for improvements to state welfare in the context of ongoing warfare?

If you would like to have a paper considered for inclusion in this themed edition, please submit a detailed 500-word abstract outlining your paper’s focus and central arguments by 1 December 2026. Please email your abstract to articlescsp@gmail.com with Themed edition: Welfare and Warfare in the subject heading. Decisions on abstracts will be communicated in early January 2027 and authors invited to submit a full paper will be required to submit this by 25 June 2027.