Regionalising Global Social Policy in Times of Economic Crisis

This article presents the manner in which regional organisations have been applying some of the underlying tenets of global social policy (GSP) in their respective regions. It notes the challenges regional entities face in doing as well as arguing that the application of GSP at the regional level is logical given the global nature of present challenges, the effects of which are often felt at both regionally and locally. Included in the analysis are some of the theoretical premises justifying social policy both at the global and regional levels. During a period of economic hardship there is often pressure to roll back regional endeavours to manage social challenges including substantial inequalities between persons, sub state regions and states. However it is exactly during such a period that robust regional measures have to be put in place to integrate global social policy; map out new social responses to problems or implement existant regional social norms.