New Routes to Social Cohesion? Citizenship and the Social Investment State
TL;DR: The notion of social cohesion appears when policy communities are engaged in discussing and redesigning citizenship regimes as discussed by the authors, and one aspect of the citizenship regime with which reformers are concerned is the welfare architecture, and in particular the kind of state needed in the new know-edge economy.
Abstract: The notion of social cohesion appears when policy communities are engaged in discussing and redesigning citizenship regimes. One aspect of the citizenship regime with which reformers are concerned is the welfare architecture, and in particular the kind of state needed in the new knowl- edge economy. The main proposition of this paper is that a redesigned welfare structure, undertaken by policy communities concerned about social cohesion, is often one that envisages a social invest- ment state. To explore this hypothesis, the paper proceeds in three steps. First, it briefly documents the emergence in a number of settings of the discourse of "social investment." Second, it maps the differences between two citizenship regimes, the post-war one anchored in social rights and the one under construction now. The paper then turns to examine the consequences of this new regime for the design of social policy in the first decades of the 21st century.
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors identify the following trends: rising employment has benefited workless households only partially; income protection for the working-age population out of work has become less adequate; social policies and more generally, social redistribution have become less pro-poor.
Abstract: Summary After the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion, on the eve of the elaboration of policies designed to help reach the Europe 2020 target of lifting 20 million people out of poverty, it is important to take stock of the outcomes of the Lisbon agenda for growth, employment and social inclusion. The question arises why, despite growth of average incomes and of employment, poverty rates have not gone down, but have either stagnated or even increased. In this paper we identify the following trends: rising employment has benefited workless households only partially; income protection for the working-age population out of work has become less adequate; social policies and, more generally, social redistribution have become less pro-poor. These observations are indicative of the ambivalence of the Lisbon Strategy and its underlying investment paradigm.
347 citations
Cites background from "New Routes to Social Cohesion? Citi..."
...(Jenson and Saint-Martin, 2003: 92) In Giddens’s view, social investment strategies would come to replace traditional welfare strategies....
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...Some argued forcefully that social investment aims to move beyond redistributive, consumption-based social welfare centred around benefits and rights, to one that, through investment in human capital, enhances people’s capacity to participate (see, for example, Jenson and Saint-Martin, 2003)....
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TL;DR: This paper assess the gendered contributions to the analysis of modern systems of social provision, starting with the concept of gender itself, and then moving to studies of the gender division of labor (including care) and of gendered political power.
Abstract: Can feminists count on welfare states—or at least some aspects of these complex systems—as resources in the struggle for gender equality? Gender analysts of “welfare states” investigate this question and the broader set of issues around the mutually constitutive relationship between systems of social provision and regulation and gender. Feminist scholars have moved to bring the contingent practice of politics back into grounded fields of action and social change and away from the reification and abstractions that had come to dominate models of politics focused on “big” structures and systems, including those focused on “welfare states.” Conceptual innovations and reconceptualizations of foundational terms have been especially prominent in the comparative scholarship on welfare states, starting with gender, and including care, autonomy, citizenship, (in)dependence, political agency, and equality. In contrast to other subfields of political science and sociology, gendered insights have to some extent been incorporated into mainstream comparative scholarship on welfare states. The arguments between feminists and mainstream scholars over the course of the last two decades have been productive, powering the development of key themes and concepts pioneered by gender scholars, including “defamilialization,” the significance of unpaid care work in families and the difficulties of work-family “reconciliation,” gendered welfare state institutions, the relation between fertility and women's employment, and the partisan correlates of different family and gender policy models. Yet the mainstream still resists the deeper implications of feminist work, and has difficulties assimilating concepts of care, gendered power, dependency, and interdependency. Thus, the agenda of gendering comparative welfare state studies remains unfinished. To develop an understanding of what might be needed to finish that agenda, I assess the gendered contributions to the analysis of modern systems of social provision, starting with the concept of gender itself, then moving to studies of the gendered division of labor (including care) and of gendered political power.
265 citations
TL;DR: The social investment perspective is replacing standard neoliberalism in Latin America as well as Europe as mentioned in this paper, with it come ideas about social citizenship that reconfigure the citizenship regimes of the three regions.
Abstract: The social investment perspective is replacing standard neoliberalism in Latin America as well as Europe. With it come ideas about social citizenship that reconfigure the citizenship regimes of the three regions. The responsibility mix is equilibrated to give a greater role for the state, although as investor rather than spender; access to citizenship rights shifts to incorporate the excluded and marginalized; and governance practices alter to emphasize decentralization to the local and the community. The main idea of the social investment perspective is that the future must be assured by investing in children and ending the interge- nerational transmission of disadvantage. With this set of child- centered policy ideas, the equality claims of adult women and attention to their needs are sidelined in favor of those of children, including girls.
212 citations
TL;DR: English Social Policy communities now often focus on ‘new social risks’ as mentioned in this paper, and they also consider that these risks call for ‘social investments’, but they recognise that divergences exist in the ways that the paradigm is implemented.
Abstract: English Social policy communities now often focus on ‘new social risks’. Despite a clear preference for controlling state spending, they also consider that these risks call for ‘social investments’. Concentration on investments, activation and the future is considered an optimal anchor for redesigning their welfare systems. Convergence around three ideas prompt us to speak of a shift towards a LEGOTM paradigm: learning over the life-course; a future orientation; and the collective benefits of an active society. Just as when Keynesianism was paradigmatic, however, we recognise that divergences exist in the ways that the paradigm is implemented.
178 citations
Cites background from "New Routes to Social Cohesion? Citi..."
...Investments imply a particular notion of time, because they generate dividends in the future, whereas consumption (labelled an expense by accountants) occurs in the present (Jenson and Saint-Martin, 2003)....
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Book•
15 May 2009
TL;DR: In this paper, the effects of investment in education and training on earnings and employment are discussed. But the authors focus on the relationship between age and earnings and do not explore the relation between education and fertility.
Abstract: "Human Capital" is Becker's study of how investment in an individual's education and training is similar to business investments in equipment. Becker looks at the effects of investment in education on earnings and employment, and shows how his theory measures the incentive for such investment, as well as the costs and returns from college and high school education. Another part of the study explores the relation between age and earnings. This edition includes four new chapters, covering recent ideas about human capital, fertility and economic growth, the division of labour, economic considerations within the family, and inequality in earnings.
12,071 citations
Posted Content•
TL;DR: In this paper, the impact of investments in human capital on an individual's potential earnings and psychic income was analyzed, taking into account varying cultures and political regimes, the research indicates that economic earnings tend to be positively correlated to education and skill level.
Abstract: A diverse array of factors may influence both earnings and consumption; however, this work primarily focuses on the impact of investments in human capital upon an individual's potential earnings and psychic income. For this study, investments in human capital include such factors as educational level, on-the-job skills training, health care, migration, and consideration of issues regarding regional prices and income. Taking into account varying cultures and political regimes, the research indicates that economic earnings tend to be positively correlated to education and skill level. Additionally, studies indicate an inverse correlation between education and unemployment. Presents a theoretical overview of the types of human capital and the impact of investment in human capital on earnings and rates of return. Then utilizes empirical data and research to analyze the theoretical issues related to investment in human capital, specifically formal education. Considered are such issues as costs and returns of investments, and social and private gains of individuals. The research compares and contrasts these factors based upon both education and skill level. Areas of future research are identified, including further analysis of issues regarding social gains and differing levels of success across different regions and countries. (AKP)
7,869 citations
4,827 citations
Book•
04 Jan 1999
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the fate of social democracy in the European Union and discuss the role of state and civil society in a society of positive welfare, and the meaning of equality.
Abstract: Preface. 1. Socialism and After. The death of socialism. Old--style social democracy. The neoliberal outlook. The doctrines compared. The recent debates. Structures of political support. The fate of social democracy. 2. Five Dilemmas. . Globalisation. Individualism. Left and right. Political agency. Ecological issues. Third way politics. 3. State and Civil Society. Democratising democracy. The question of civil society. Crime and community. The democratic family. 4. The Social Investment State. . The meaning of equality. Inclusion and exclusion. A society of positive welfare. Social investment strategies. 5. Into the Global Age. The cosmopolitan nation. Cultural pluralism. Cosmopolitan democracy. The European Union. Market fundamentalism on a world scale. Conclusion. . Notes. Index.
3,231 citations