Legitimising the care market: the social recognition of migrant care workers in Italy

2016 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARTA CORDINI ◽  
COSTANZO RANCI

AbstractThe sizeable presence of migrant care workers in the private care market in many European countries is confirmed by several studies that have explained the phenomenon through functional arguments, stressing the economic convenience of transnational markets and the crucial role played by public regulation. This paper focuses instead on the public and institutional discourses that have contributed to legitimising this private care market, characterised by the worsening of employment conditions and the decrease in care quality. The main argument of this paper is that the social recognition of these workers provides the public with the new concepts and rationales that determine the actual shape of the private care market.Migrant care workers are usually, compared to other migrant workers, more welcome in the host society and less targeted by xenophobic attitudes, especially where their labour helps to meet a lack of public provision as is happening in Southern European countries. Nevertheless, their rights are not fully granted either as citizens or as workers: basic requirements in this migrant care market include for instance reduced wages, great flexibility, and informal contracts.Our hypothesis is tested through the reconstruction of the public regulation and a content analysis of the public discourse that has accompanied this regulation for ten years (2002–2012) in Italy. The two main national newspapers have been taken into account. This analysis provides evidence on how market dynamics have been shaped by a deliberate political construction, which has relieved governments of the task of finding a public solution to care needs and has relegated migrant care workers to a subordinate social position, which is functional in making the care market work.

2011 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 264-276
Author(s):  
María Virginia Quiroga

The emergence of social movements in the public arena had to do with neoliberalism´s negative consequences. Different actors with different interests worked together against the system, which became their “common antagonist”.  On the one hand, after years of autonomous organization, these social movements won social recognition and increased their power. On the other, political parties and trade unions lost legitimacy.  In December 2005, a faction of the Bolivian social movements won the general elections, and Evo Morales (the cocalero movement´s leader) became the first Aymara president in Bolivian history. How to manage this government it is one of the majors challenges the social movements confront in today’s Bolivia. La emergencia de movimientos sociales en la esfera pública está ligada a las consecuencias negativas del neoliberalismo.  Actores sociales provenientes de distintos sectores y con intereses distintos unieron fuerzas contra un sistema que se convirtió en el “antagonista común”.  Después de años de organización autónoma, estos movimientos lograron reconocimiento político e incrementaron su poder de gestión, mientras los partidos políticos y los sindicatos perdían legitimidad.  En diciembre 2005 una facción de los movimientos sociales ganó las elecciones generales y Evo Morales (líder del movimiento cocalero) se convirtió en el primer Presidente aymara de la historia de Bolivia. Cómo gestionar este gobierno constituye hoy día uno de los mayores retos que enfrentan los movimientos sociales.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1-44
Author(s):  
Joel Slemrod ◽  
Obeid Ur Rehman ◽  
Mazhar Waseem

We examine two Pakistani programs to see if the public disclosure of tax information and social recognition of top taxpayers promote tax compliance. Pakistan began revealing income tax paid by all taxpayers from 2012. Simultaneously, another program began recognizing and rewarding the top 100 tax paying corporations, partnerships, self-employed individuals, and wage-earners. We find that the public disclosure caused a 9 log-points and the social recognition program a 17 log-points increase in the tax payments of agents exposed to the program. Our results suggest that such programs can be important policy levers to mobilize additional resources.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jana Friedrichsen ◽  
Tobias König ◽  
Tobias Lausen

Abstract We analyse the political economy of the public provision of private goods when individuals care about their social status. Status concerns motivate richer individuals to vote for the public provision of goods they themselves buy in markets: a higher provision level attracts more individuals to the public sector, enhancing the social exclusivity of market purchases. Majority voting may lead to a public provision that only a minority of citizens use. Users in the public sector may enjoy better provision than users in the private system. We characterise the coalitions that can prevail in a political equilibrium.


1998 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 491-511
Author(s):  
Casten von Otter ◽  
Paula Blomqvist

Public social services in Sweden are in a highly transitional phase, reflecting new economic constraints and a change of policy regime. Transformations of the public social services sector have included market-oriented methods of management such as separation of purchaser and provider functions, contracting and intra public sector competition. The objective of the reforms has been to enhance economic efficiency at the micro-level of production. In addition, substantial cutbacks have been made in the funding of social services. One of the results of these changes is a reduction of jobs in the social services sector, a development which runs contrary to stated government objectives with respect to employment. To maintain local employment levels, a number of programmes have been initiated, both at local and central level. The situation can thus be described as one where local governments are forced to lay off regular workers within the social services sector, only to rehire them later in conjuction with job creation programmes. The paper provides an overview of this slightly paradoxical process, brought about by the clash of political objectives in one policy area (public social services) with those of another (employment). In Sweden, moreover, welfare policy goals with respect to equity, manifested in a commitment to public provision of social goods, prevent this paradox (and resulting excess demand for social services) from being solved by the expansion of a private market for social services. The net result is a loss of regular jobs and a growing gap between demand for and supply of social services. In addition, job creation programmes have generally failed to meet the expectations of trade unions and workers for "real jobs" with fair and equal rights, a failure that may bring about the establishment of a dual labour market also within the public service sector.


2018 ◽  
Vol 22 ◽  
pp. 71-84
Author(s):  
Kornelia Kajda ◽  
Michał Pawleta ◽  
Arkadiusz Marciniak

The article explores the issues connected to the social role of archaeology and its meaning among the public. In the paper we analyze the European survey conducted by Harris Interactive in 9 European countries (Poland, Greece, Italy, France, Sweden, UK, Holland, Germany, Spain) with a special account on its results in Poland. The results of the survey present that archaeology is a scientific discipline of special interest among Poles and that they appreciate and need a contact and cooperation with archaeologists which would enable society to understand more the importance of our own past.


Liquidity ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 110-118
Author(s):  
Iwan Subandi ◽  
Fathurrahman Djamil

Health is the basic right for everybody, therefore every citizen is entitled to get the health care. In enforcing the regulation for Jaringan Kesehatan Nasional (National Health Supports), it is heavily influenced by the foreign interests. Economically, this program does not reduce the people’s burdens, on the contrary, it will increase them. This means the health supports in which should place the government as the guarantor of the public health, but the people themselves that should pay for the health care. In the realization of the health support the are elements against the Syariah principles. Indonesian Muslim Religious Leaders (MUI) only say that the BPJS Kesehatan (Sosial Support Institution for Health) does not conform with the syariah. The society is asked to register and continue the participation in the program of Social Supports Institution for Health. The best solution is to enforce the mechanism which is in accordance with the syariah principles. The establishment of BPJS based on syariah has to be carried out in cooperation from the elements of Social Supports Institution (BPJS), Indonesian Muslim Religious (MUI), Financial Institution Authorities, National Social Supports Council, Ministry of Health, and Ministry of Finance. Accordingly, the Social Supports Institution for Helath (BPJS Kesehatan) based on syariah principles could be obtained and could became the solution of the polemics in the society.


Author(s):  
Yuri Mahortov ◽  
Nataliya Telichko

The system of social’s defence of population is considered as object of state administration. Basic problems in her structure are educed under the prism of foreign experience of the European countries. The ways of reformation and realization of state administrations of the social defense’s system of population in Ukraine and development of effective mechanism of its management are offer.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 17
Author(s):  
Ahmad Fauzi ◽  
Chusnul Muali

Pesantren and social value system is the result of constructing kiai's thoughts and social actions as an inseparable entity. This study aims to interpret the role and social action of kiai Moh Hasan, both as a fighter (al-haiah al-jihaadi li'izzi al-Islaami wal muslimin) in the community as well as guidance and guidance for the community (al-haiah al ta 'awuny wa al takafuly wal al ittijaahi) and teaching in educational institutions (al-haiah al ta'lim wa al-tarbiyah), significantly contributes greatly to the social realities of society in Indonesia. Portrait of central figure kiai Moh Hasan can not be separated from the depth of his field of Islamic science, simplicity, kezuhudan, struggle, sincerity and generosity. This view, not only recognized among the people around the boarding school, students and colleagues, but also spread in some areas in Indonesia. The fame of kiai Moh Hasan among scholars, habaib and society has many karamah and some other privileges, not even a few from the social recognition of kiai Moh Hasan Genggong, because the kiai are believed to have closeness with God, thus perceived as auliya'Allah. Thus the role and social actions of the kiai above, gave birth to the value system, so as to influence and move the social action of other individuals. The internalization of the aforementioned values becomes social capital in building a spiritual-based transformative leadership, as a strong leadership model and conducts various changes in the social field, by transforming the value of the ethical values.


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanne Boersma

This article scrutinizes how ‘immigrant’ characters of perpetual arrival are enacted in the social scientific work of immigrant integration monitoring. Immigrant integration research produces narratives in which characters—classified in highly specific, contingent ways as ‘immigrants’—are portrayed as arriving and never as having arrived. On the basis of ethnographic fieldwork at social scientific institutions and networks in four Western European countries, this article analyzes three practices that enact the characters of arrival narratives: negotiating, naturalizing, and forgetting. First, it shows how negotiating constitutes objects of research while at the same time a process of hybridization is observed among negotiating scientific and governmental actors. Second, a naturalization process is analyzed in which slippery categories become fixed and self-evident. Third, the practice of forgetting involves the fading away of contingent and historical circumstances of the research and specifically a dispensation of ‘native’ or ‘autochthonous’ populations. Consequently, the article states how some people are considered rightful occupants of ‘society’ and others are enacted to travel an infinite road toward an occupied societal space. Moreover, it shows how enactments of arriving ‘immigrant’ characters have performative effects in racially differentiating national populations and hence in narrating society. This article is part of the Global Perspectives, Media and Communication special issue on “Media, Migration, and Nationalism,” guest-edited by Koen Leurs and Tomohisa Hirata.


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