IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ehl/lserod/115643.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

From altruism to sociality: a switch in perception

Author

Listed:
  • Dean, Hartley

Abstract

The article critically reviews concepts and uses of the term altruism in relation to the emergence of the capitalist welfare state. It argues that altruism may be regarded as a fetishized representation of ‘sociality’ and that notions of altruism tend to obscure or distort understandings of the essential social interdependence that characterises humanity as a species. The article reaches back to anthropological evidence, to religious and philosophical influences, and to insights from scientific inquiry and it makes a case for a humanistic switch in perspective within the study of social policy.

Suggested Citation

  • Dean, Hartley, 2023. "From altruism to sociality: a switch in perception," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 115643, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:115643
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/115643/
    File Function: Open access version.
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Le Grand, Julian, 2003. "Motivation, Agency, and Public Policy: Of Knights and Knaves, Pawns and Queens," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199266999.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Josse Delfgaauw & Robert Dur, 2008. "Incentives and Workers' Motivation in the Public Sector," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 118(525), pages 171-191, January.
    2. Bruno S. Frey & Alois Stutzer, 2006. "Environmental Morale and Motivation," CREMA Working Paper Series 2006-17, Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA).
    3. Dolfsma, W.A., 2006. "IPRs, Technological Development, and Economic Development," ERIM Report Series Research in Management ERS-2006-004-ORG, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
    4. Hernández-Pizarro, Helena M. & Nicodemo, Catia & Casasnovas, Guillem López, 2020. "Discontinuous system of allowances: The response of prosocial health-care professionals," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    5. Allen, Pauline, 2006. "New localism in the English National Health Service: What is it for?," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(2-3), pages 244-252, December.
    6. Coast, Joanna, 2018. "A history that goes hand in hand: Reflections on the development of health economics and the role played by Social Science & Medicine, 1967–2017," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 227-232.
    7. Thomas Braendle & Alois Stutzer, 2013. "Political selection of public servants and parliamentary oversight," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 45-76, February.
    8. Grieder, Manuel & Baerenbold, Rebekka & Schmitz, Jan & Schubert, Renate, 2022. "The Behavioral Effects of Carbon Taxes – Experimental Evidence," VfS Annual Conference 2022 (Basel): Big Data in Economics 264112, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    9. Trine Tornøe Platz & Nikolaj Siersbæk & Lars Peter Østerdal, 2019. "Ethically Acceptable Compensation for Living Donations of Organs, Tissues, and Cells: An Unexploited Potential?," Applied Health Economics and Health Policy, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 1-14, February.
    10. Makoto Kakinaka & Koji Kotani, 2011. "An interplay between intrinsic and extrinsic motivations on voluntary contributions to a public good in a large economy," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 147(1), pages 29-41, April.
    11. Joan Costa-Font & Mireia Jofre-Bonet & Steven T. Yen, 2013. "Not All Incentives Wash Out the Warm Glow: The Case of Blood Donation Revisited," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 66(4), pages 529-551, November.
    12. repec:cep:sticas:/184 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Wilfred Dolfsma, 2013. "Government Failure," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 15372.
    14. Dunajevas Eugenijus & Skučienė Daiva, 2016. "Mandatory Pension System and Redistribution: The Comparative Analysis of Institutions in Baltic States," Central European Journal of Public Policy, Sciendo, vol. 10(2), pages 16-29, December.
    15. Martin Gaynor & Carol Propper & Stephan Seiler, 2016. "Free to Choose? Reform, Choice, and Consideration Sets in the English National Health Service," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(11), pages 3521-3557, November.
    16. repec:dau:papers:123456789/5991 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Debesay, Jonas & Harsløf, Ivan & Rechel, Bernd & Vike, Halvard, 2014. "Dispensing emotions: Norwegian community nurses' handling of diversity in a changing organizational context," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 74-80.
    18. repec:zbw:rwirep:0331 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Martin Gaynor & Carol Propper & Stephan Seiler, 2012. "Free to Choose? Reform and Demand Response in the English National Health Service," The Centre for Market and Public Organisation 12/297, The Centre for Market and Public Organisation, University of Bristol, UK.
    20. Besley, Timothy & Burchardi, Konrad B. & Bevan, Gwen, 2009. "Naming and shaming: the impacts of different regimes on hospital waiting times in England and Wales," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 33775, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    21. Deborah Wilson & Bronwyn Croxson & Adele Atkinson, 2004. "“What Gets Measured Gets Done”: Headteachers’ Responses to the English Secondary School," The Centre for Market and Public Organisation 04/107, The Centre for Market and Public Organisation, University of Bristol, UK.
    22. Jukka Pirttilä & Sanna Tenhunen, 2005. "Pawns and Queens Revisited: Public Provision of Private Goods When Individuals Make Mistakes Abstract: This paper analyses the optimal tax policy and public provision of private goods when individuals," Working Papers 212, Työn ja talouden tutkimus LABORE, The Labour Institute for Economic Research LABORE.
    23. Alessandra Smerilli, 2013. "Values based organizations," Chapters, in: Luigino Bruni & Stefano Zamagni (ed.), Handbook on the Economics of Reciprocity and Social Enterprise, chapter 41, pages 421-429, Edward Elgar Publishing.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    altruism; fetishism; interdependence; social policy; sociality; species-being;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:115643. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: LSERO Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/lsepsuk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.