Welfare State

(2009) “Las reformas de las políticas de bienestar en España (1980-2008): una visión de conjunto”

by Eloisa del Pino

Eloísa del Pino y Juan A. Ramos,
Luís Moreno (ed.) Reformas de las políticas de bienestar en España. Madrid: Siglo XXI

En este capítulo se presentan las conclusiones de un libro en el que se han analizado el tipo y el proceso de cambio... more En este capítulo se presentan las conclusiones de un libro en el que se han analizado el tipo y el proceso de cambio que ha experimentado el Estado del Bienestar español en los últimos 25 años desde una perspectiva de ciencia política y sociología. Se ha prestado especial atención a los factores, instituciones y actores que han intervenido en el cambio de las distintas políticas sociales. Como se ha explicado en el capítulo segundo, donde se presentaba el modelo explicativo, para analizar cada una de las políticas se ha utilizado una doble perspectiva. Tras un repaso a las trayectorias de las políticas en el periodo de tiempo considerado (1980-2008), se ha pasado al examen más detallado de los que se han denominado “episodios de cambio” (en ocasiones sólo intentos de cambio) en esas políticas. La información más relevante utilizada para el análisis de las reformas concretas proviene principalmente de la realización de alrededor de 120 entrevistas en profundidad con los protagonistas de tales procesos de cambio (agentes sociales, responsables públicos, políticos y funcionarios, y representantes de organizaciones de interés) y expertos en cada política. Además, se ha explorado la prensa de esos años y se han consultado otras fuentes documentales generadas por los actores de la reforma.

Local Welfare Systems: A Challenge for Social Cohesion

by Alberta Andreotti

co-authored with Mingione, Enzo; Polizzi, Emanuele
Published in Urban Studies23 May 2012, 10.1177/0042098012444884
http://usj.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/0042098012444884v1

In recent decades, local welfare systems have been emerging in many Western countries as a consequence of bottom–up... more In recent decades, local welfare systems have been emerging in many Western countries as a consequence of bottom–up and top–down transformative pressures. Local welfare systems are defined as dynamic arrangements in which the specific local socioeconomic and cultural conditions give rise to different mixes of formal and informal actors, public or not, involved in the provision of welfare resources. This article presents some of the most important implications related to the emergence of local welfare systems and the challenges they face in seeking to build social cohesion. After a brief description of the reasons that justify a local approach to welfare, an account is provided of the scientific debate on local welfare and an indication given of the possible relations and tensions between the emergence of local welfare systems and the production of social cohesion.

The Civil Hospitals of Lisbon: the launch of the first urban health coordinating body in Portugal (1913-1927)

by David Pereira

Abstract Proposal for Paper at

40 Years Society for the Social History of Medicine – Annual Conference... more Abstract Proposal for Paper at

40 Years Society for the Social History of Medicine – Annual Conference 2010

Knowledge, Ethics and Representations of Medicine and Health: Historical
Perspectives

8-11 July 2010, Durham and Newcastle, UK

Organised by the Northern Centre for the History of Medicine

Sponsored by the Wellcome Trust, London, and the Society for the Social History of
Medicine


The Civil Hospitals of Lisbon: the launch of the first urban health coordinating body in Portugal (1913-1927)

To define the origins of the social politics concerning the health in Portugal, the Civil Hospitals of Lisbon (Hospitais Civis de Lisboa) acquired a real importance in the first reforms taken among the health in the country. Starting to implement several measures after the political change which came with the declaration of the Republic in 1910, the governments interfered with the regulation and organization of the health units of the country’s capital. With this, the State defined for the first time a coordinating body which, as a matter of fact, continued some of the structure that pre-existed in the Monarchy with the direction of the São José Royal Hospital and Outbuildings (Hospital Real de São José e Anexos) assured by the hospital matron (enfermeiro-mor) with a informal connexion with the directors of its several units. The structure maintained this scheme for almost three years – with the loss of the title Royal for obvious reasons – when the government decided to create an autonomous management for the medical assistance, administration and accountancy in the new Civil Hospitals of Lisbon, giving the responsibility of the direction in terms of medical, hygiene and pharmacy procedures to a Medical Commission (September 9, 1913), soon changed into a Directive Commission (November 27, 1914) with the directors of the health units. Its major competences were the definition of the internal regulations conserving its autonomy, the transfer of the amounts of the State budget and the vote of the annual budgets and the approval of annual amounts for the Hospitals` management. It was the first major health directive body in Portugal which was a privileged spot of the definitions of the health politics in that period.

O Instituto de Seguros Sociais Obrigatórios e de Previdência Geral (1919-1928)

by David Pereira

Resumo
O Instituto de Seguros Sociais Obrigatórios e de Previdência Geral (ISSOPG), criado pelo Decreto com... more Resumo
O Instituto de Seguros Sociais Obrigatórios e de Previdência Geral (ISSOPG), criado pelo Decreto com força de lei n.º 5640, de 10 de Maio de 1919, tinha a seu cargo a superintendência, administração, execução e fiscalização de todas as leis, decretos, regulamentos e instruções para o exercício dos seguros obrigatórios e industriais e de todos os ramos de previdência, assistência e beneficência, nos termos da legislação vigente. Vários anos mais tarde, pelo Decreto n.º 11 267, de 25 de Novembro de 1925, era extinto o Ministério do Trabalho, passando o ISSOPG a integrar o Ministério das Finanças. Este Instituto haveria de alterar a sua denominação para Instituto de Nacional de Seguros e Previdência (INSP) em 1928, mantendo-se até 1933, altura em que foi definitivamente extinto. Acompanhando a sua evolução institucional e a execução da vastidão de áreas que lhe foram confiadas, podemos compreender muitos dos bloqueios e insuficiências dos sucessivos planos gizados pelos responsáveis políticos na área social durante o período, sobretudo aquilatando as diferenças entre os planos teórico e prático associados à sua intervenção.

Abstract
The Institute for Compulsory Social Insurances and General Social Provisions (ISSOPG), created by the Decree with force of law number 5640, 10th May 1919, was in charge of the oversight, administration, execution and supervision of all laws, decrees, regulations and instructions for the exercise of compulsory and industrial insurances and all branches of social provisions, public and private aid, under the law. Several years later, by the Decree number 11 267, 25th November 1925, it was extinguished the Ministry of Labour, passing the ISSOPG to be part of the Ministry of Finance. This Institute would change its nomination to National Institute for Insurances and Social Provisions (INSP) in 1928, continuing to exist until 1933, when it was definitely extinguished. Following its institutional evolution and the execution of the wide areas that were entrusted to its supervision, we can understand many of the blockades and shortcomings of the successive plans drawn by the policymakers in the social area during this period, especially assessing the differences between the theoretical and practical associated to its intervention.

Palavras-Chave
Portugal; instituições; previdência social; assistência.

Keywords
Portugal; institutions; social provision; aid.

As Políticas Sociais em Portugal (1910-1926)

by David Pereira

Resumo
Abstract
Trabalho de Projecto
Project Work Title
As Políticas Sociais em Portugal... more Resumo
Abstract
Trabalho de Projecto
Project Work Title
As Políticas Sociais em Portugal (1910-1926)
David Oliveira Ricardo Pereira

PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Portugal, I República, políticas sociais.
KEYWORDS: Portugal, First Republic, social politics.

Tendo em conta o âmbito do trabalho que nos propomos realizar, procuraremos contribuir para uma visão global acerca das políticas desenvolvidas pelos poderes públicos em matéria social no período considerado: o trabalho; os seguros sociais obrigatórios; a assistência; a saúde; a habitação. Assim, perspectivamos poder determinar vários aspectos caracterizadores dessas mesmas políticas, desde a sua concepção e modelo teórico, passando pelas influências exógenas que essa mesma política possa ter incorporado, para além da sua construção legislativa e da sua aplicação final, não esquecendo o seu alcance e sucesso. É nosso propósito contribuir para um olhar reflexivo sobre os anos da I República Portuguesa (1910-1926) conhecendo as suas políticas sociais, o que no limite pode igualmente garantir uma melhor compreensão deste regime também em termos da sua avaliação global. Por outro lado, centrando igualmente a sua situação cronológica e estrutural em termos económicos e sociais, cremos ser possível aquilatar até que ponto se diferenciaram os propósitos prévios à realização das políticas, a sua aplicação e a apreciação final acerca do seu sucesso ou malogro. Só colocando em análise todos estes factores sobre uma perspectiva ampla poderemos obter as explicações adequadas ao questionamento desse período em Portugal na matéria em questão.

This research aims to study the State social policies during the period. The fields under study include, for that period, the public politics concerning: the labour laws; the first legislation about the obligatory social insurance; the public assistance; the health; the housing. Our aim is to know the different phases of that politics with its conception in theory, the foreign influences which came to the country in that field, the legislative framework, the general approval and its results and evaluation. On the other hand, our research is also framed by the economical and social structural period in which the Portuguese First Republic (1910-1926) is inserted. Through the particular study of the social politics promoted by the State, we want to obtain a general appraisal considering the Portuguese First Republic regime as a whole. By having also in mind the economical and social structure and chronology, we think that it is possible to evaluate the potential differences between the intentions before the approval of those politics, its application and its final judgement according its success or failure. Only by putting in to analysis all these factors on a wide perspective we can obtain the adequate explanations to questioning this period in Portugal in this issue.

The Political Child: Children, Education and the State

by David Pereira

Education and Work: State policies for children in Portugal and the tension between protection and punishment in the... more Education and Work: State policies for children in Portugal and the tension between protection and punishment in the first half of the 20th century

The Political Child: Children, Education and the State
15 and 16 May 2009, University of Helsinki
Finland

Abstract
This communication constitutes the wide portrait about the origin and functioning of the children law in Portugal and its relationship with the protection of the children in the country, having as general frame the first half of the 20th century. This time scope is supported by an ample sphere with origins in the deepening process of getting specificity by children in the law and in the society from the second half of the 19th century and in the definition of a protection of children model drawn in the post Second World War period in all Europe, and where Portugal also got in.
As essential propose of our study we want to understand, considering the evolution of the public system childhood assistance and the internment of young offenders, if the State policies concerning children in Portugal could get an improvement in the living conditions of its beneficiaries: the children.
This subject also connects with the study of the social politics in Portugal which leads our general research.
The study’s purpose related with the subject of this work was developed in the Research Project, running between January and December of 2006 under scientific coordination of Professor Maria Fernanda Rollo, about the History and Patrimony of the National Federation of the Protection of Children Institutions (FNIPI).

A assistência pública e a Separação: novos modelos, práticas antigas

by David Pereira

A I República ocupou-se, desde o início, com a reforma dos serviços de assistência pública. Já a Constituição de 1911... more A I República ocupou-se, desde o início, com a reforma dos serviços de assistência pública. Já a Constituição de 1911 reconhecia o direito à assistência pública que, aliás, provinha já da Carta Constitucional vigente na Monarquia Constitucional, embora redigida de forma um tanto mais vaga. A expulsão das ordens religiosas pôs, desde logo, problemas de premente resolução, sobretudo no que respeitava a asilos, recolhimentos, hospitais e cozinhas económicas dependentes de pessoal religioso no passado. Mas, na verdade, o aspecto deficitário que o sector apresentava nesse período em termos orçamentais não foi marcado por um claro quadro de ruptura para com a situação herdada dos últimos anos da Monarquia Constitucional. Assim, na ausência do reconhecimento de direitos políticos e sociais à maioria da população, o regime da I República não se afastou do perfil de um Estado liberal, com previdência social diminuta baseada na verificação de meios e direccionada às classes trabalhadoras de rendimentos mais reduzidos a que se reconhecia um estigma social assumido e preciso, tal como no plano da assistência pública se mantiveram os pressupostos de atendimento apenas aos pobres, que atestavam a sua condição pela inexistência de meios para se sustentarem. Por outro lado, a política do Estado manteve-se particularmente repressiva relativa ao problema da mendicidade, sobretudo nos meios urbanos. Os passos dados durante o período da I República, num contexto de estrangulamento financeiro da maioria das instituições, agravado pelo aumento do custo de vida e a inflação galopante dos preços após a I Guerra Mundial, direccionaram-se sobretudo para a tentativa de criação de maior número de lugares nas instituições tuteladas pelo Estado e para uma nova forma de dirigir essas instituições, através de uma maior centralização na direcção dos serviços. Há, portanto, uma continuidade em muitas das práticas anteriores à Separação do Estado das Igrejas no plano da assistência pública.

Microfinance in the welfare state, a tool for increased social inclusion and poverty alleviation?

by Inès Chadi

The aim of the study was to determine whether the impacts of personal microcredits in the welfare state can lead to... more The aim of the study was to determine whether the impacts of personal microcredits in the welfare state can lead to increased social and financial inclusion of the beneficiaries, and if personal microcredit can serve to alleviate poverty. Focus of the study was personal microcredits in France, and more specifically personal those obtained through the French Red Cross. The methods used for the study were qualitative interviews and collection of quantitative data supported by the Secours Catholiq

Il Basic Income nella prospettiva delle Capabilities. Sicurezza protettiva e diversità non dominate / Basic Income in the Capabilities' perspective. Protective security and undominated diversity

by Emanuele Murra

in "Notizie di Politeia", issue 105, 2012, pp. 47-53, ISSN 1128-2401

For the advocates of basic income as instrument to guarantee real freedom, the capabilities approach constitutes an... more For the advocates of basic income as instrument to guarantee real freedom, the capabilities approach constitutes an important challenge. It seems that a universal and in-cache policy, such as basic income, would not play any role in a theory so aware of the diversity of people and so sceptic of the idea that real freedom would be achieved only thanks to higher income. But this assumption, which appears correct at first sight, is not confirmed after a careful evaluation of Sen’s proposal.
In the article, the Author shows how basic income would be a good instrument to fulfil what Sen calls protective security. Afterward, the article handles the question regarding how basic income could take into account some diversity in people’s capabilities thanks to the concept of undominated diversity.

"Conservar el Estado frente al reformismo de la nueva beneficencia"

by Vicente Caballero de la Torre

"Conservar el Estado frente al reformismo de la nueva beneficencia". Le monde diplomatique (Edición española), enero de 2007.

El presente artículo, escrito en 2007, tiene como objeto mostrar las relaciones que se establecen entre el paulatino... more El presente artículo, escrito en 2007, tiene como objeto mostrar las relaciones que se establecen entre el paulatino vaciamiento del Estado de ciertas competencias consideradas “sociales”, el auge de la “sociedad red” –denominada ideológicamente “sociedad de la información”- y el regreso de la beneficencia en forma de Obras sociales a cargo de la banca y las cajas. La banca y las cajas no se aproximan sólo en el "modus operandi" en lo que refiere a la oferta de productos financieros y la “agresividad” de estos sino que también se sitúan en la misma línea de la filantropía "new age".

The Repertoire of Reconstruction – Addressing Weaknesses of the Japanese State through Development of the Third Sector and Civil Society

by Russell Kabir

Submitted to the Midwest Conference on Asian Affairs in June 2011. Thesis, Bachelor's in International and Area Studies-Asian Studies at the University of Oklahoma.

Japan has a long history of disaster experiences due to its geographic location along the Pacific Ring of Fire, whose... more Japan has a long history of disaster experiences due to its geographic location along the Pacific Ring of Fire, whose fault lines have created a number of devastating earthquakes. These earthquakes and their aftermaths have posed challenges to Japan’s state capacity for disaster management. Pitfalls in the administration of political goods during crises have exposed weaknesses in the Japanese state, specifically an inadequacy by bureaucracy to react with relief in a timely and effective manner. Japanese civil society has responded to this with a push in participation, volunteerism and advocacy for non-profit and non-governmental organizations, collectively known as the “third sector,” as alternative methods for allocating and appropriating resources during disasters. In this way, the third sector has been adaptive to roles and institutions not provided or adequately addressed by the Japanese state, a political unit often characterized by its post-World War II developmental model and wealth of welfare services that made it a global industrial power that boasts the world’s highest life expectancy. Analyzing the repertoire of disaster management through comparisons between the Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995 and the current manifold crises of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami of 2011 is an effective method for observing the way that weaknesses of the Japanese state have led to the growing engagement of civil society and consequently called for the development of the third sector.

Straddling Two Continents: Social Policy and Welfare Politics in Turkey

by Dimitris Tsarouhas

Co-authored with A.I.Aybars, published in "Social Policy & Administration", 2010.

There has been an increasing academic interest in understanding the dynamics of social policy in the Middle East and... more There has been an increasing academic interest in understanding the dynamics of social policy in the Middle East and developing a conceptual ‘model’ to account for the particular characteristics of welfare arrangements in the countries of the region. While part of this framework, Turkey represents an exceptional case due to the Europeanization processes the country is undergoing in various policy areas, including social policy. The influence of the European Union on the shape of Turkish social policy, as illustrated by the government's recent reforms in the labour market and social security domains, is hereby used to outline the position of Turkey vis-à-vis both the Southern European welfare regime and the Middle Eastern pattern. This article seeks to assess the dynamics of Turkish social policy in light of the country's political, and socio-economic dynamics, as well as the external influence exerted by the EU and international financial institutions. The aim is to examine Turkish welfare arrangements in a comparative manner and consider its suitability with reference to either of the two models. Looking at major trends in social security and the labour market, the article argues for a Turkish ‘hybrid’ model embodying the characteristics of both. Subject to EU explicit pressures for reform absent elsewhere in the Middle East, the data nevertheless show that Turkey has yet to make the qualitative leap forward that could place it firmly within the Southern European welfare group.

Social Policy in Greece: continuity and change

by Dimitris Tsarouhas

Conference Proceedings, Political Studies Association (PSA), 2008.

Europeanization has rapidly become a catch-all phrase that encompasses a variety
of meanings. It has not,... more Europeanization has rapidly become a catch-all phrase that encompasses a variety
of meanings. It has not, however, been rigorously examined with regard to its policy consequences (policy Europeanization) on welfare state structures and expenditures.
Such a function is particularly pertinent in Southern Europe, where Europeanization
has often been discussed in discursive and normative terms. Less attention was paid to the constraints it has posed on fiscal budgets and welfare programmes, and it is this aspect of the debate that this paper seeks to address.
Beginning with a discussion of Europeanization as a potential mechanism of
constraint in the development of welfare, the paper goes on to investigate its effects
on Greek social policy. Findings point both to a substantial increase in social policy
expenditure and an inability to substantially revamp policy programmes by
highlighting the case of pension politics. Domestic structures are seen to play the all-important role of intermediate variables, and particular attention is paid to the path dependent character of policy reform and the weaknesses of the administrative apparatus. These are the twin aspects of the Greek reform malaise, which persists to this day.

"We Couldn't Just Throw Her in the Street": Gendered Violence and Women's Shelters in Turkey

by Kim Shively

Published as a chapter in Anthropology at the Front Lines of Gendered-Based Violence, Jennifer R. Wies and Hillary J. Haldane, eds. pp. 71-90.  Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University Press.

This chapter discusses the success and limitations of the Turkish state shelter system for victims of domestic... more This chapter discusses the success and limitations of the Turkish state shelter system for victims of domestic violence.  The chapter aims to demonstrate how these shelters are explicitly and implicitly based on a notion of domestic/gendered violence that is broader than in Western conceptions.  In Turkey, the new laws and institutions established to deal with domestic violence have largely been borrowed from European precedents in a process of “transplantation” – a strategy Sally Engel Merry has outlined in her book Human Rights and Gender Violence.  Due to pressure from the European Union accession process that has required Turkey to match its legal system to European standards, the importation of domestic violence/gender violence laws into Turkish Civil and Penal Codes has been relatively successful – that is, follows the European models closely.  The chapter traces the rewriting of the Civil and Penal codes in recent Turkish history to show how the legal standards have changed in favor of women who are victims of domestic violence.  Unlike the legal code amendment process, though, the chapter argues that the transplantation of the institutional models, in particular the state women’s shelters, has been a much more complicated procedure.  Based on research conducted in state women’s shelters in Izmir Province, Turkey, in 2004, 2006 and 2007, I discuss the fact that most residents of the state shelters have not fled forms of intimate partner violence.  Thus, the shelters do not function primarily as “battered women’s” shelters, as are the European institutions they are modeled on.  Rather, the shelters most often deal with women who are suffering from more generalized, structural forms of gendered violence, such as exclusion from education and the means of economic independence,  and from a shortage of institutions that serve the needs of poor women.  In sum, while the Turkish shelters may fall short of Western expectations in that only 10% of the residents are victims of intimate partner violence, they serve the needs of women who suffer from gendered violence in its broadest sense. 

Miksi hyvinvointivaltioihin syntyy yhteiskunnallisia yrityksiä?

by Eeva Houtbeckers

Book title: Corporate responsibility in international economy (Vastuullinen liiketoiminta kansainvälisessä maailmassa). Edited by Maria Joutsenvirta, Minna Halme, Mikko Jalas and Jukka Mäkinen.

A short story in an edited book about the reasons for social entrepreneurship in welfare states. In Finnish. A short story in an edited book about the reasons for social entrepreneurship in welfare states. In Finnish.

A Disarmingly Simple Idea? Practical Bottlenecks in Implementing a Universal Basic Income

by Jurgen De Wispelaere

Published in International Social Security Review 65(2), 2012 (co-authored with Lindsay Stirton)

This paper considers the implementation of a universal basic income, a neglected area in basic income research. We... more This paper considers the implementation of a universal basic income, a neglected area in basic income research. We identify and examine three important practical bottlenecks that may prevent a basic income scheme from attaining the universal reach desired and proclaimed by its advocates: (1) maintaining a population-wide cadaster of eligible claimants ensuring full take-up; (2) instituting robust modalities of payment that reach all intended beneficiaries; and (3) designing an effective oversight mechanism in a policy context that actively opposes client monitoring. We argue basic income faces unique implementation challenges that its proponents must consider carefully.

Review of Frank Trentmann, 'Free Trade Nation: Commerce, Consumption and Civil Society in Modern Britain'

by Matthew Taunton

published in Critical Quarterly 44.1 (April 2012)

Institutional Implications of the Unfair Terms Directive in Poland

by Rafał Mańko

[in:] Jacobien W. Rutgers (ed.), European Contract Law and the Welfare State (Groningen: Europa Law Publishing, 2012), pp. 141-169.

ABSTRACT

In this paper I focus on the institutional implications of the EU Unfair Terms Directive (93/13)... more ABSTRACT

In this paper I focus on the institutional implications of the EU Unfair Terms Directive (93/13) in Poland in the broader context of the welfare state model prevalent in that post-socialist EU Member State. I depart from the assumption that there is, in principle, a link between the intensity of the welfare state and the level of consumer protection, as evidenced e.g. by the traditionally high level of both in the Nordic countries. Such a view is supported by the fact that both policies are the expression of the desire to promote social justice. Hence, I argue that there is a close link between the currently experienced atrophy of the welfare state in capitalist Poland and stances towards consumer protection. Therefore, in section 2, I depart from a brief account of the evolution of the Polish welfare state from the pre-1989 state-socialist model to the current model within the framework of Poland's new capitalism, which can be described on a theoretical plane as marginal or residual, if not simply atrophic. In section 3, I discuss the evolution of consumer protection in Poland, indicating its initial lack during the state-socialist period and its emergence in the early 1980s, before moving on to the post-socialist period and the impact of European integration. Having presented the background information on the welfare state and consumer protection, in section 4 I discuss in detail the institutional impact of the Unfair Terms Directive. My analysis encompasses such aspects as the definition of a consumer, the substantive scope of protection and the available means of protection (incidental and abstract control). I will also discuss the newly introduced group actions (comparable to class actions) which are specifically tailored for consumer cases, including those where the rules on unfair terms are involved. In section 5, I present my concluding remarks.

RESUME

Le texte a pour objet d’analyser la transposition de la directive 93/13 sur les clauses abusives dans l’ordre juridique polonais dans le contexte du modèle d’État-providence. Premièrement, j’analyse l’évolution historique d’État-providence en Pologne et je note la crise contemporaine de celui-ci. Deuxièmement, j’analyse le modèle de la protection du consommateur en Pologne et les rapports existants entre ladite protection et le modèle d’État-providence. Troisièmement, j’analyse les implications institutionnelles de la directive 93/13 en Pologne et notamment le champ d’application ratione personae (définition du consommateur), le champ d’application ratione materiae (définition de la clause abusive), le caractère juridique de la liste des clauses abusives (liste « grise » ou « noire ») ; le contrôle in concreto des clauses abusives par les juridictions civiles ordinaires ; le contrôle in abstracto des clauses abusives par une juridiction spécialisée, c’est-à-dire la Cour de la protection de la concurrence et du consommateur a Varsovie ; les actions dites « de groupe » comme une nouvelle forme de protection collective des droits du consommateur. L’article souligne des difficultés rencontrés au regard de la transposition et application du droit des clauses abusives en Pologne, qui peuvent être liées au problème plus générale de la crise d’État-providence.

The South European Model of Welfare

by Alberta Andreotti

co-authored with: Mingione, TR; Andreotti, AA; Kazepov, Y; Garcia, M; Hespana, P; Gomez, A
in Journal of Conteporary European Studies, 9(1), 43-62.

In the comparative welfare literature, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese welfare systems are usually included in the... more In the comparative welfare literature, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese welfare systems are usually included in the conservative model together with France and Germany, even though the first three countries have peculiar characteristics. Our thesis is that there exists a South European model (the Conservative Familistic model), which must be kept separate. In this article, we shall try to explain the reasons of this choice analysing the different mix of Market, Family and State in Italy, Spain and Portugal transversally. The idea is that in the South European model Family plays a major role while State is absolutely residual and does not support families either with in-kind services and financial support.

Universal and Guaranteed Income? A Matter of Basic Rights / Reddito garantito ed universale? E' questione di diritti fondamentali

by Emanuele Murra

Answer to the Call for Interventions for a guarantee income by Bin Italia.
http://bin-italia.org/ year 2012
Contributo al dibattito dopo l'appello alla presa di parola per un reddito garantito lanciato dal Bin Italia
http://www.bin-italia.org/ year 2012

EN
The idea of a regular income that allows people to plan and fulfil a life project is a certainly linked to the... more EN
The idea of a regular income that allows people to plan and fulfil a life project is a certainly linked to the topic of job markets reform. However, these two issues do not overlap. The reform of job contracts, new economic incentives, liberalization and tax exemptions can make the job market more efficient, but all these tools can not resolve the issue of effective risk of insecurity and irregularity in personal incomes.

Guaranteeing incomes is not the same than guaranteeing jobs: if the issue of income security involves the workers, the precariat, the unemployed, all the young men and women looking for their first job, it does not concern them as workers but as citizens. Or, to put it more precisely, as people with fundamental rights.

All humans, as biological beings, bear unavoidable material needs like [...]


[...continue to read on http://binews.org/2012/04/opinion-universal-and-guaranteed-income-a-matter-of-basic-rights/]

IT
Il tema della garanzia al reddito è certamente legato a quello del mercato del lavoro e della sua riforma, ma non ci si può illudere che coincida con esso. La modifica delle forme contrattuali, gli incentivi economici, le liberalizzazioni e le defiscalizzazioni, anche quando portassero ad un più efficiente mercato del lavoro, non risolverebbero comunque la questione della sempre possibile intermittenza del reddito.

La garanzia del reddito non è perfettamente sovrapponibile alla garanzia del posto di lavoro e, pur interessando lavoratori, disoccupati, ragazzi e ragazze in cerca di prima occupazione, essa non li riguarda come semplici lavoratori o aspiranti tali, ma in quanto cittadini, o più precisamente, in quanto persone titolari di diritti fondamentali.

Qualunque persona umana, in quanto essere biologico, è portatrice di ineludibili bisogni materiali [...]

[...continue to read on http://www.bin-italia.org/article.php?id=1658]