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HIST345: British Social Problems 1900-1945

Special Subject (60 credits)

This module, using a range of original sources, will engage with two main themes: first, it examines and explains the period's major social problems and, second, it will illustrate how attempts to cope with these problems led to greater state intervention and provoked more radical plans for state economic planning and, ultimately, a welfare state. Changes in the economy, in social and occupational structure, in population size and distribution, in economic and political ideas and the impact of two world wars form the background to an analysis of the key themes. At the centre lies the problem of poverty. The extent and causes of poverty and government policies to deal with it are examined. Much of the module is concerned with unemployment, which contemporaries regarded as the most pressing social issue. Analysis of the nature, causes and social effects of unemployment is followed by an examination of the government's economic and welfare policies together with the alternative schemes proposed by the government's critics. Housing conditions and housing policies are also examined, while the state of the nation's health and health services are also studied. Special attention is given to studying working-class women and the family. The module ends with a review of the 1940s plans for the welfare state, their implementation and what this meant for the future of welfare provision in Britain.

Teaching Arrangements: All Special Subjects in the History department operate on the basis of 66 hours of official teaching contact, equivalent to 3 hours per week over a period spanning 22 weeks (10 weeks in Michaelmas Term of year 3, 10 weeks in Lent Term of year 3, and 2 weeks [revision seminars] in Summer Term of year 3), plus individual consultations. Working within the 66-hour overall figure, teaching approaches will vary due to the specialist nature of the courses.

For further information on HIST345 visit the Lancaster University Online Courses Handbook.

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