ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book presents evidence from several major pieces of research carried out in West Belfast in 1996 as part of a review of anti-discrimination policies. It explores both gender- and religion-based differences in work histories and experiences of education and training. The book discusses the survey data to evaluate how long-term unemployed people view government sponsored training and employment schemes. It focuses on an experimental scheme unique to Northern Ireland, the Community Work Programme. The book also discusses the scheme with those who devised it, those who were running it and groups of participants. It examines what the Agreement says about economic and social justice, and assesses the prospects of the policies on employment equality set out in the White Paper. The book covers the history of anti-discrimination policies and the place of the unemployed within them.
