Critical Social Policy

Aims & Scope

Critical Social Policy provides a space for critical approaches to the production, development and receipt of social policy and welfare.

By engaging with issues rooted in political, economic, social and cultural power the journal interrogates conventional approaches to social policy and offers alternative and critically informed perspectives.

In keeping with the commitment to confronting hierarchical ways of functioning that inevitably lead to unequal power positions, Critical Social Policy operates as a collective.

From the moment of inception, Critical Social Policy has been a political project confronting orthodox and traditional approaches to social policy, welfare and the state, seeking to put people before profit.

Its original aims were, and continue to be, grounded in socialist, feminist, anti-racist and radical perspectives relating to the experiences of people struggling within or against the state.

The journal continues to evolve, therefore, by engaging with questions of identity, position and power such as class, gender, ‘race’, disability, sexuality and age, so as to try and counteract exclusion, subordination and domination.

The journal aims to interrogate critically social policy within the context of national and global social change.

The Critical Social Policy editorial collective welcomes contributions from activists, advocates, academics, practitioners, policy-makers, and users of services who are engaging with perspectives on power, resistance, emancipation, social justice and political transformation.

We also welcome debate on how to initiate, engender and support struggles within the sphere of social policy.

View Aims & Scope

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Metrics & Ranking

Impact Factor

Year	Value
2025	2.2
2024	2.30

Journal Rank

Year	Value
2024	4710

Journal Citation Indicator

Year	Value
2024	409

SJR (SCImago Journal Rank)

Year	Value
2024	1.015

Quartile

Year	Value
2024	Q1

h-index

Year	Value
2024	80

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Abstracting & Indexing

Journal is indexed in leading academic databases, ensuring global visibility and accessibility of our peer-reviewed research.

• Scopus
• Google Scholar
• Web of Science

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Subjects & Keywords

Journal’s research areas, covering key disciplines and specialized sub-topics in Social Sciences, designed to support cutting-edge academic discovery.

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Most Cited Articles

The Most Cited Articles section features the journal's most impactful research, based on citation counts. These articles have been referenced frequently by other researchers, indicating their significant contribution to their respective fields.

• New Labour’s citizens: activated, empowered, responsibilized, abandoned?

  Citation: 352

  Authors: John

• Ageing in urban environments: Developing ‘age-friendly’ cities

  Citation: 329

  Authors: Tine, Chris, Thomas

• Immigration, social cohesion and social capital: A critical review

  Citation: 289

  Authors: Pauline Hope, Rosalind, Harry, John

• The deserving and the undeserving? Refugees, asylum seekers and welfare in Britain

  Citation: 245

  Authors: Rosemary

• The alchemy of austerity

  Citation: 237

  Authors: John, Janet

• Post-Foucauldian governmentality: What does it offer critical social policy analysis?

  Citation: 236

  Authors: Kim

• In and beyond New Labour: towards a new political ethics of care

  Citation: 230

  Authors: Fiona

• Constructing sexual citizenship: theorizing sexual rights

  Citation: 226

  Authors: Diane

• The concept of social exclusion and the new Durkheimian hegemony

  Citation: 206

  Authors: Ruth

• Power dynamics and collaborative mechanisms in co-production and co-design processes

  Citation: 194

  Authors: Michelle

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