Public Policies Addressed to the Social and Solidarity Economy in South America. Toward a New Model?

Since the beginning of this century, most South American countries have modified their position within society, challenging the self-regulating nature of markets and intervening in social issues. This approach supports the transition toward a “third-generation” model for the social policy field, one in which Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) acquires a relevant role. In the last few years, many public policies have included SSE in their design, with the purpose of addressing the key issues of developing societies: unemployment and poverty. This article analyzes the main regulatory dimensions and conditionings of the national programs that promote SSE in South American countries and aim to enhance social inclusion and employment. Particularly, the article examines the most illustrative social programs implemented at the national level in Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Uruguay and Venezuela in the last decade.     

Toward a New Social Contract? The Participation of Civil Society in Swedish Welfare Policymaking, 1958–2012

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - In contribution to current debates on the changing roles and responsibilities of civil society in welfare state...     

Winning a Battle but Losing the War? Third Sector and Social Policy in Latin America: The Case of Uruguay

This paper analyzes some aspects of the third sector’s involvement process in the provision of public social services. Using evidence garnered in previous research based on in-depth interviews, I offer elements toward an assessment of the consequences this process has produced not only in terms of the gains and losses it has produced for social policy, but also for the very identity and constitutive characteristics of the third sector. The evidence hereby compiled strengthens skepticism toward the hypothesis that sees a transformative potential in the role of the third sector in social policy in Latin America. This skepticism arises from issues detected by involved actors themselves and that are linked to the weakness of the sector as a whole.     

The Polish Social Enterprise Sector Vis-à-Vis the Welfare Regime: Following on the Solidarity Movement?

This paper presents the development of the enterprise sector and the welfare regime in Poland, dominated by two opposing trends originating from the country’s recent history: remnants of the “Communist welfare state” and liberal tendencies that came after the political and economic transformation in 1989. The growing civil society that supplements a deficient welfare system finds its roots in the peaceful underground Solidarity movement of the 1980s which played a great role in liberating Poland. After the political turnover, the Solidarity’s mission-driven approach not only survived, but also helped shape Poland’s contemporary civil society. The outlined mechanisms seem to be significant for understanding the transformation of social economy and the welfare state concept in post-communist Europe. In our paper, we identify six mechanisms underlying the Solidarity movement, which, when subsequently implemented by social entrepreneurs, has guaranteed the success of their organizations. We will also characterize the current welfare state in Poland, as well as the role of social enterprises in filling the gaps and addressing the shortcomings of the welfare state. Several case studies will illustrate the latter.     

The State and the Associational Order of the Economy: The Institutionalization of Cartels and Trade Associations in 1931–45 Japan

The existing literature on the impact of the state on the associational order has emphasized the state's concern on the implications of the associational order to the public goods and the role of the associational order as a policy tool of the state. However, few studies have investigated what particular characters of the state shape the pattern of the associational order. Through a historical analysis, this study highlights three important factors related to the state that contributed to the the rise of the associational order in Japan during the Great Depression and World War II. First, the shift of the state preference from protecting the liberties of private enterprises toward maintaining political stability in economic crisis and controlling resource allocation in war was the ultimate driving force behind the rise of associational order. Second, the constitutional order of the Japanese state, which involves not only the organization, composition, powers, and limitation of the state's executive, legislative, and jurisdictional branches, but also the people's liberties defined by the constitution, was strongly influenced by the continental legal tradition. This structurally shaped the Japanese pattern of the associational order. Third, the institutionalized legal and economic beliefs of property rights provided ideological support to the rise of the associational order.     

Toward a Decolonial Alternative to Development? The Emergence and Shortcomings of Vivir Bien as State Policy in Bolivia in the Era of Globalization

There is an urgent demand for the examination of the critical perceptions of new kinds of ‘development’ which are emerging in the Global South in response to—and often opposed to—the global capitalist political economy. This article discusses the case of contemporary Bolivia in which indigenous political alternatives have emerged as the resistance to economic globalization and the powers of capital accumulation, as well as to the cultural and epistemological commitments of the Western order. Through an ethnographic approach, it examines the emergence and shortcomings of the notion of vivir bien—a local, decolonial, indigenous concept of good life—as state policy. It argues that despite its transformative potential, the translation of vivir bien discourses into state practices has not been, to a large degree, achieved.     

Social Movement Theory Today: Toward a Theory of Action?

Grand theories of social movements, relating them to History or Society, are being dismantled and reevaluated. In their place approaches are emerging that offer a cultural and emotional theory of action, allowing analysts to build from the micro-level to the macro-level in a more empirical way rather than deductively from the top down. Social movements are composed of individuals and their interactions. Rational-choice approaches recognize this, but their version of the calculating individual is too abstract to be realistic or helpful. Pragmatism, feminism, and related traditions are encouraging a rethinking of collective action.     

How to Get a Longer Job? Roles of Human and Social Capital in the Japanese Labor Market

This article investigates the roles of human and social capital played in the Japanese labor market. Our research question is whether they interact to accelerate or decelerate each other to provide first jobs of a long duration. Based on the literature, we focus on the bonding functions of friends and relatives. Using the 2005 Social Stratification and Social Mobility Survey Data, we measure human capital by educational attainment (college education) and social capital by job search methods (using friends or relatives). The dependent variable is the hazard rate of turnover from the first job. We find that social capital especially benefits those with low human capital (high school graduates). When friends or relatives introduce workers to jobs, high school graduates tended to stay longer in their first jobs and had a lower turnover than college graduates did. This means that social capital decelerated effects of human capital. Therefore, in the Japanese labor market, social capital plays a complementary role in mitigating educational disadvantage.     

Big Data in Social Welfare: The Development of a Critical Perspective on Social Work's Latest “Electronic Turn”

ABSTRACT

“Big data” initiatives that aim to bring together and mine data from multiple databases across government and non-government agencies promise new insights into the delivery of social services. However, as debates in other disciplines have shown, big data poses challenges as well as opportunities. This article provides an overview of the ethical issues in relation to big data, which extends into an examination of the practice issues for big data applied to the social welfare sector. In particular, the claims for objectivity made for big data are problematised through an exploration of what data are available in social welfare and the processes of big data collection and analysis, which are different from, but related to, data integrity. The aim is to stimulate debate within the sector in order to contribute to the development of a critical, cautious, but open approach to social work's latest “electronic turn”.     

The Gender Pay Gap in the US: Does Sector Make a Difference?

Analyses of data from the 2000 US Census show that the gender pay gap differs by sector of employment and according to the part of the earnings distribution that is considered. The gender pay differential in the private sector in the US does not display either the glass ceiling or sticky floor effects that have been reported for many other countries. The government sector is, however, characterized by a distinct sticky floor effect in the female–male pay differential. Regardless of the sector of employment, females have lower hourly rates of pay than men across the entire earnings distribution.

The Rhetoric of the State: Dependency and Control in a Malaysian–Indonesian Borderland Key Words:

This article examines dependency on cross-border labor and marriage along the international frontier in the Kelabit Highlands of Sarawak, Malaysia (Borneo) and some local efforts to restrict outsiders. The international border in this remote region of Borneo is highly permeable, and border-crossing activities, including seasonal migrant wage labor and cross-border marriage, are crucial both to the local political economy and to the reproduction of the Kelabit family and farm. This article explores the unique position of the Kelabit as they attempt to appropriate aspects of state power or use the rhetoric of state power in their efforts to maintain a status quo with regard to neighboring, and closely related, migrant workers from across the border.     

The Scarring Effect of the 2008 Economic Crisis: Growth and Growth Decline in Austria’s Nonprofit Social Services Sector

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - Since the 2008 economic crisis, social service providers worldwide have reported funding cuts, while the need for some...     

Social Economy and Home Care Services in Quebec: Co-Production or Co-Construction?

Third sector organizations have always played a significant role in the supply of home support services in Quebec, but this supply of services attained a crucial development phase in 1996, with the creation of 100 or so domestic help social economy enterprises (DHSEEs). These DHSEEs complemented the supply of public services delivered by the Quebec state, thus de facto taking part in the dynamics of co-production of services in the context of a mixed economy including the third sector. However, beyond that co-production, these enterprises also have to position themselves in a process of co-construction with the state, that is, in the joint, partnership-oriented construction of public policy, which provides the framework for their participation in services of public interest. Analysis of this public policy thus shows that the situation of DHSEEs in Quebec has swung, depending on the period, between co-production and various types of co-construction. A number of restrictive budget policies and subcontracting practices adopted by the Quebec state, along with tensions among DHSEE groups, curtailed the development of a genuine co-construction process during the 2000s.     

Social Workers’ Conflict of Loyalty in the Context of Social Activism: The Case of the 2011 Social Protests in Israel

ABSTRACT

This qualitative study examined the experiences of social workers who participated in the 2011 Israeli social protests. Data were collected through 1 focus group interview. The sample included 11 social workers employed in 11 social welfare departments throughout the country. Findings highlight the complexities and dilemmas experienced by social workers who protested against the system that employs them. Research findings contribute to the discourse regarding the conflict of loyalty experienced by public social workers engaged in social activism that targets the system that employs them.     

Messages to Social Work Education: What Makes Social Workers Continue and Cope in Child Welfare?

This article examines the positive elements which make social workers continue their career with a focus on statutory child welfare. Such analysis is needed, as existing research tends to highlight stress, exhaustion and career break-up issues. The empirical data consist of focus groups of 28 social workers and a questionnaire addressed to 56 professionals in child welfare in two Finnish urban municipalities. The focus groups were targeted at novice, expert and veteran social workers. The analysis presents organisational, person-related and client-work-related positive elements from the point of view of social workers. The results highlight that social work in child welfare may be experienced as being rewarding and professionally challenging. The positive elements vary among novice, expert and veteran social workers, with the latter especially viewing their work as independent expert work with major opportunities to make a change in children's lives. Commitment to care of children is one of the key motivating factors. The study suggests that social work education should recognise that the subjective motivation to do social work may change during one's career and that social work may be simultaneously both stressful and rewarding. Students should learn how to balance these aspects of their work.     

Social and solidarity economy for sustainable development: its premises – and the Social Economy Basel example of practice

The social and solidarity economy (SSE) is a viable strategy in dealing with some contemporary problems known both in industrial and developing countries. SSE is contextualized against the background of recent developments: the liberalization of goods and capital flows worldwide, continued industrialization, and the increased global division of labour. Addressed is how local populations could reach certain objectives and satisfy certain needs using techniques characteristic of SSE and, thus, carve out a social and economic space of their own vis-à-vis anonymous markets, global actors, and local and national elites. Within this self-governed space, it is suggested, a path can be laid for the necessary transition towards local, social, and ecological sustainability. The Social Economy Basel (SEB, founded 1996) will serve as an example to suggest how SSE principles could be operationalized into organizational practice.