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This book uses previously unknown archive materials to explore the meaning of the term ´incapable of work´ over a hundred years (1911-present). Nowadays, people claiming disability benefits must undergo medical tests to assess whether or not they are capable of work. Media reports and high profile campaigns highlight the problems with this system and question whether the process is fair. These debates are not new and, in this book, Jackie Gulland looks at similar questions about how to assess people´s capacity for work from the beginning of the welfare state in the early 20th century. Amongst many subject areas, she explores women´s roles in the domestic sphere and how these were used to consider their capacity for work in the labour market. The book concludes that incapacity benefit decision making is really about work: what work is, what it is not, who should do it, who should be compensated when work does not provide a sufficient income and who should be exempted from any requirement to look for it.

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1. Introduction.- 2. From National Insurance In 1911 To Employment And Support Allowance.- 3. Only Those Unconscious Or Asleep: Definitions Of Incapacity For Work.- 4. The Necessity Of Questioning The Doctor: Medical And Other Evidence.- 5. Bridge Toll Attendants And Driving A Quiet Horse: The Labour Market And Structural Barriers To Work.- 6. Fit For The Ordinary Work Of The Home: Women And Domestic Work.- 7. Not Incapable Of Playing Bingo: Ideas About "Work" In Incapacity Benefits.- 8. Immoral Conduct: Moral Regulation In Incapacity Benefits.- 9. Unacceptable Snooping: Sick Visitors And Other Methods Of Surveillance. 10. Conclusion.

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Jackie Gulland is Lecturer in Social Work at the University of Edinburgh, UK. Her work is inter-disciplinary and crosses the fields of social policy, sociology, social work, history and law. She has held a series of lectureships and research posts in higher education, crossing the disciplines of social policy, sociology and law, with a continuing focus on socio-legal issues and research methods.

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