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Social Quality and Quality of Life

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Challenges for Quality of Life in the Contemporary World

Part of the book series: Social Indicators Research Series ((SINS,volume 24))

Abstract

The two purposes of this paper are to introduce the concept of social quality and to discuss the main differences between it and the idea of quality of life. The concept of social quality was introduced in 1977 as an alternative to economic growth as a yardstick for social and economic progress. Subsequently it has been extensively theorized and, on a practical policy level, became a core part of the Eu’s social agenda. In this paper we explain the concept of social quality and its development, and then go on to outline the theory of social relations underlying it. Finally, discussion of the differences between social quality and quality of life leads to the conclusion that the latter is too ill-defined and amorphous to provide a useful guide for policy making even if its scientific heritage is substantial.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Sheffield, UK

    Alan Walker & Laurent van der Maesen

  2. European Foundation for Social Quality, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Alan Walker & Laurent van der Maesen

Authors
  1. Alan Walker
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  2. Laurent van der Maesen
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Johan Wolfgang Goethe Universität, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Wolfgang Glatzer , Susanne Von Below  & Matthias Stoffregen ,  & 

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Walker, A., van der Maesen, L. (2004). Social Quality and Quality of Life. In: Glatzer, W., Von Below, S., Stoffregen, M. (eds) Challenges for Quality of Life in the Contemporary World. Social Indicators Research Series, vol 24. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-2903-5_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-2903-5_2

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-90-481-6741-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-2903-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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