The making and breaking of solidarity between unwaged and waged workers in the UK

ABSTRACT

This article explores in what way solidarity relationships are made and unmade between waged and un-waged workers in the UK. It thereby feeds into the broader discussion on the decline and future of trade unionism and new ways of organizing struggle. In particular, it engages with the literature on community unionism. Methodologically it draws on Participatory Action Research undertaken between 2013 and 2017 with 12 unwaged workers’ groups organizing outside of established trade unions. Conceptually the article challenges understandings of solidarity based on self-interest by emphasising its relational complexity. It argues for a concept of workers’ solidarity that is based on a broadened understanding of work but which at the same time goes beyond a common identity by paying attention to power-discrepancies and current inequalities. Through such a lens, solidarity is created through affective bonds and is based on a shared anger about injustice and a common desire for transformation.     

Interrogating institutionalisation and child welfare: the Irish case, 1939–1991*

ABSTRACT

The topic of institutionalisation and child welfare in Ireland has garnered increasing national and international public and scholarly attention over the past twenty years. This is not an Irish phenomenon. Governments internationally have utilised commissions to investigate a range of historical abuses against children and young adults, many in an institutional setting (see Age of Inquiry, http://www.lib.latrobe.edu.au/research/ageofinquiry/). One of the most recent shocking historical revelations opens the paper – the discovery of the burial of 796 children in a septic tank in a mother and baby home in Tuam, Co. Galway (http://www.mbhcoi.ie/MBH.nsf/page/index-en). Following this, the historical approach – a history of the present – is explained. A number of questions about the past use of institutions in Ireland are posed to help illuminate the importance of this issue to the present day. We consider the nature of institutionalisation and the development of law and policy prior to and after the Second World War. Our questions lead us to a discussion of three themes: the role of economics; parentage and gender; and the relationship between the State and the Church. We conclude with a commentary on why such interrogation of institutional care is important in the present.     

Revisiting Welfare States. Performance in Reducing Poverty through Longitudinal Multinational Comparison

This article presents the results of a comparative study on the effects of social welfare programs in selected developed countries. Using a fully comparable longitudinal data file from nationally representative household surveys, we estimate the poverty rate and poverty gap before and after social welfare transfers and taxes in order to identify the direct effects of social welfare on poverty. In general, the findings reveal that countries with conservative welfare regimes demonstrate higher poverty performance than do countries with liberal welfare regimes. In particular, the United States lagged behind through all periods under investigation, whereas Germany exhibited the highest performance in poverty reduction.     

Race Matters: Child Protection and the Communication Process

It is well-known that, in the United States, African-American children are disproportionately represented in the child welfare system and that disparities in the provision of services exist. The debate over contributing factors to this overrepresentation and these disparities is ongoing as researchers seek explanations and practitioners pursue solutions. This qualitative inquiry finds that within the context of the child protection system and the juvenile court process, racial dynamics emerge between respondent parents and system representatives that may affect the process and, in turn, the outcomes for the thousands of children of color in the foster care system.     

民政工作的开放性及社会福利服务的整合

在中国，民政工作是一个极具开放性的政府工作系统。在改革开放不断深化的大背景下，新的矛盾和问题可谓层出不穷，由此而产生的新的工作和任务，需要有一个“不管部”来承接，这个政府部门就是民政部门。从1980年代中期开始，民政部以主动求变和不断扩张的姿态，成功地摆脱了在政府工作中被边缘化的处境。进入2010年代，民政部门的下一个目标应该是社会福利服务，而且要以“三社联动”为手段来实现。     

试论新课改下思政专业师范生的教育观

高师院校担负的重要责任之一是为中学培养基础教育人才,高师院校的思想政治教育专业学生要成为一名合格的中学政治教师,必须树立新的教育观,在课程观、知识观、师生观及自身的角色定位上都应从传统的旧观念中解脱出来,实现新的转变,只有不断提升自身专业素养和综合素质,才能承担新课程改革的社会责任,完成新课程改革的历史使命。     

A small‐scale qualitative scoping study into the experiences of looked after children and care leavers who are parents in Wales

This paper presents the findings of a scoping study into looked after children and care leavers who are parents in Wales. Eight parents engaged in a qualitative interview. Thirty‐one pregnancies were discussed during the interviews: 16 live births, two ongoing pregnancies, one stillbirth, one termination and 11 miscarriages. At the point of interview, two parents continued to care for their children, but six had experienced the permanent removal of their child/ren as a result of social services intervention. Twelve of the 16 children discussed in the interviews were ‘looked after’ or adopted. Despite its small‐scale nature, the study highlights important considerations before, during and after participants became parents. Broadly categorized, these relate to the influence of parents' childhood experiences on their capacity to be parents, the availability and adequacy of support during parenting and the ensuing impact of parenting ‘success’ or ‘failure’. For parents who had experienced the loss of a child, some were resigned to having no further children, some continued to hope for a family in the future, while others had experienced cycles of repeated pregnancies and compulsory removals. The findings are considered in the context of related literature and suggest that increased attention is required in this under‐researched but highly emotive area.     

人口老龄化与社会福利状况:国际比较及其启示

国际比较表明,无论是与人口老龄化程度相当的国家相比,还是与经济发展水平相当的国家相比,中国在公共福利支出和社会养老保障制度方面都存在明显的不足和滞后。人口老龄化挑战的真正涵义是:能否在经济、社会转型和人口迅速老龄化的条件下,建立起公平、合理、有效的国家制度安排和社会应对机制。解决人口老龄化问题的根本出路不仅在于加快经济发展,弘扬传统文化,而且在于完善社会保障制度、增加公共福利支出。     

Integration into the Social Democratic Welfare State

This article examines the assumption that the social democratic welfare state is better than others in integrating immigrants into society, or at least that the comprehensive welfare state should compensate for the problems of labour market entry. A number of key indicators from The Living Conditions Survey are used to show that this assumption is inherently wrong. Immigrants do not have the same possibilities to enter the labour market, which is shown to have severe affects on other important areas of social and political citizenship. It stands clear that the social democratic welfare state, built and expanded on grounds of homogeneity, is insufficient to deal with changing circumstances in a plural society.