The re-signification of state-funded community development in Ireland: A problem of austerity and neoliberal government

2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 222-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosie R. Meade
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Community Development ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Public Spending ◽  
Development Programme ◽  
The Social

This article analyses the changing rationalities and techniques through which the Irish state seeks to govern community development; specifically, how the displacement of its flagship Community Development Programme by the Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme has been justified and operationalised. Adopting a governmentality perspective, it explains how community development came to be constructed as an anti-poverty strategy and why it should also be understood as a ‘technology of government’. This article argues that the changing governmentalities shaping Irish community development are reflected in a re-problematisation and re-signification of community development’s purposes, rationalities and sources of legitimacy. Under the cover of austerity’s manufactured public spending crisis and new forms of expertise, preoccupations with effectiveness, efficiency and international best practice have intensified, thus demonstrating ongoing incursions by neoliberal ideas and practices in Irish Social Policy.

scholarly journals Religious Diversity and the Challenge of Social Inclusion

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary Bouma
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Religious Diversity ◽  
Critical Issue ◽  
Critical Thought ◽  
The Social ◽  
New Thinking ◽  
Diverse Society ◽  
Society Today ◽  
Cross National

As societies have become religiously diverse in ways and extents not familiar in the recent histories of most, the issues of how to include this diversity and how to manage it, that is, questions about how to be a religiously diverse society have come to the fore. As a result religion has become part of the social policy conversation in new ways. It has also occasioned new thinking about religions, their forms and the complexity of ways they are negotiated by adherents and the ways they are related to society, the state and each other. This issue of <em>Social Inclusion</em> explores these issues of social inclusion in both particular settings and in cross-national comparative studies by presenting research and critical thought on this critical issue facing every society today.

scholarly journals Rekindling the flame of community through compassion – a call for leadership toward compassionate community

2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 3-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vaughan Milner
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Community Development ◽  
Social Action ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Social Capital Theory ◽  
Support Networks ◽  
Capital Theory ◽  
Common Life ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Common

This article explores the perspective that we live in communion with one another and that social justice and interdependence stem from compassion. One aspect of compassion is the notion of interdependence and being passionately moved by others and for others. Embracing community development and social capital theory engages practitioners with compassion in social action. Social isolation, social exclusion and the fragmentation of community social support networks are hidden challenges to social justice. More sustained attention can be paid to the ways social workers could and should link people to others who will remain in the clients’ lives long after the professionals have moved on. The argument is advanced that it is critical for more action in the rekindling of community and the linking of people to others – compassion reflects the grace of relationships that comes from authentic connection between people. The social justice challenge laid out is to promote social inclusion and interdependence and nurture the common life through engaging with those around our clients and us.

The Slow Road to the Social Investment Perspective in the European Union

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shannon Dinan
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Social Dimension ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Social Investment ◽  
Research Experience ◽  
Member States ◽  
The Social

The European Union has no unilateral legislative capacity in the area of social policy. However, the European Commission does play the role of guide by providing a discursive framework and targets for its 28 Member States to meet. Since the late 1990’s, the EU’s ideas on social policy have moved away from the traditional social protection model towards promoting social inclusion, labour activation and investing in children. These new policies represent the social investment perspective, which advocates preparing the population for a knowledge-based economy to increase economic growth and job creation and to break the intergenerational transmission of poverty. The EU began the gradual incorporation of the social investment perspective to its social dimension with the adoption of ten-year strategies. Since 2000, it has continued to set goals and benchmarks as well as offer a forum for Member States to coordinate their social initiatives. Drawing on a series of interviews conducted during a research experience in Brussels as well as official documents, this paper is a descriptive analysis of the recent modifications to the EU’s social dimension. It focuses on the changes created by the Europe 2020 Strategy and the Social Investment Package. By tracing the genesis and evolution of these initiatives, the author identifies four obstacles to social investment in the European Union's social dimension.   Full text available at: https://doi.org/10.22215/rera.v10i1.263

scholarly journals Solidarity Economy Reintegration Entities in Warmia and Mazury

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-86
Author(s):  
Majka Łojko
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Social Exclusion ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Review Of The Literature ◽  
Solidarity Economy ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Disabled ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Vocational Reintegration

The aim of the paper is to present solidarity economy reintegration entities and to analyse the actions they undertake for labour market reintegration and social inclusion of people at risk of social exclusion and for social and vocational rehabilitation of the disabled in the Warmia and Mazury region. The paper provides a review of the literature on the subject, based on an analysis of data from public statistics published by Statistics Poland, current studies of the Regional Centre of Social Policy in Olsztyn and scientific studies dedicated to the field of the social and solidarity economy. The analysis has revealed that all solidarity economy entities operating in the region are focused on taking comprehensive measures aimed at counteracting social exclusion and promoting social and vocational reintegration of people who, for various reasons, are not able to perform their social and professional roles independently and effectively.

scholarly journals Social inclusion and competitiveness of companies: Employing people with disabilities

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boris Miethlich
Keyword(s):  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Corporate Culture ◽  
Business Performance ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
People With Disabilities ◽  
Csr Strategies ◽  
The Social ◽  
Csr Strategy ◽  
Corporate Social

Work enables participation in society. However, people with disabilities are particularly often affected by unemployment and thus by social exclusion. The social inclusion of people with disabilities, by promoting employment, can only be achieved by companies themselves. Deliberately employing people with disabilities, therefore, represents an important social responsibility of companies towards society. Evidence from the literature shows that corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, as well as social inclusion, are more than just a commitment and can bring various benefits to a company. The aim of the present study is therefore to analyse the case for promoting the employment of people with disabilities to show whether and to what extent social inclusion as part of the CSR strategy can contribute to strengthening the competitiveness of companies. The topic is viewed and analysed from different perspectives, using five dedicated journal papers, mainly based on qualitative data. The results reveal first insights as well as trends and tendencies and provide a basis for subsequent studies. They show that social inclusion as part of the CSR strategy can increase a company's competitiveness and business performance, presumed the company succeeds in creating a corporate culture that accepts and promotes social inclusion on one hand and creates awareness for CSR initiatives among stakeholders on the other. Simultaneously, governmental frameworks that respond positively to and expect sustainable development or social inclusion can provide additional and significant support to these concerns. Due to the limited literature and research on the subject, further research is necessary. In particular, there is a lack of best practice approaches on how social inclusion can be promoted in companies and implemented in CSR strategies.

Whither EU Social Policy? An Account and Assessment of Developments in the Lisbon Social Inclusion Process

2007 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARY DALY
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Social Process ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Lisbon Strategy ◽  
Policy Model ◽  
Inclusion Process ◽  
Open Method Of Coordination ◽  
The Social ◽  
Death Knell

The study of EU social policy highlights a number of issues especially well, among them the unfolding institutionalisation of a social field in EU politics and policy, and the changing nature of economic and social governance in Europe. This article examines recent EU social policy, following the course of the Lisbon strategy since it got underway in 2000. Focusing on the social inclusion process, the aim is to identify development over time, to review progress critically and to offer some explanation for events. Analysis is centred on an interrogation of the social policy model and the cognitive aspects of the process, especially as they are to be seen in the production of national policy plans and the responses to these on the part of different EU actors. A conclusion drawn is that, while social exclusion has provided an innovative focus within an EU context, the process as a whole is timid and key elements are weak. This is a spur to further analysis and so the article goes on to identify limitations in terms of design, rationale, and the place of the social inclusion Open Method of Coordination (OMC) the revised Lisbon Strategy. In effect, the conditions necessary to realise the new method and social vision are not in place. A key conclusion is that with survival under threat, the need to continually reinvent itself may actually be the death knell of the social process.

scholarly journals The Slow Road to the Social Investment Perspective in the European Union

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shannon Dinan
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Social Dimension ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Social Investment ◽  
Research Experience ◽  
Member States ◽  
The Social

The European Union has no unilateral legislative capacity in the area of social policy. However, the European Commission does play the role of guide by providing a discursive framework and targets for its 28 Member States to meet. Since the late 1990’s, the EU’s ideas on social policy have moved away from the traditional social protection model towards promoting social inclusion, labour activation and investing in children. These new policies represent the social investment perspective, which advocates preparing the population for a knowledge-based economy to increase economic growth and job creation and to break the intergenerational transmission of poverty. The EU began the gradual incorporation of the social investment perspective to its social dimension with the adoption of ten-year strategies. Since 2000, it has continued to set goals and benchmarks as well as offer a forum for Member States to coordinate their social initiatives. Drawing on a series of interviews conducted during a research experience in Brussels as well as official documents, this paper is a descriptive analysis of the recent modifications to the EU’s social dimension. It focuses on the changes created by the Europe 2020 Strategy and the Social Investment Package. By tracing the genesis and evolution of these initiatives, the author identifies four obstacles to social investment in the European Union's social dimension.

scholarly journals (Re)Building Home and Community in the Social Housing Sector: Lessons from a South Australian Approach

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 88-101
Author(s):  
Selina Tually ◽  
William Skinner ◽  
Debbie Faulkner ◽  
Ian Goodwin-Smith
Keyword(s):  
Community Development ◽  
Social Housing ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Housing Stock ◽  
Housing Sector ◽  
Transfer Program ◽  
Place Making ◽  
Program Outcomes ◽  
Disadvantaged Area ◽  
The Social

Australia’s social housing sector is under great pressure. Actions to improve social housing sector capacity and responsiveness have occupied the minds and endeavours of many policy makers, practitioners and scholars for some time now. This article focusses on one approach to challenges within the sector recently adopted in a socio-economically disadvantaged area within Adelaide, South Australia: transfer of housing stock from the public to the community housing sector for capacity and community building purposes (the Better Places, Stronger Communities Public Housing Transfer Program). The discussion draws on evaluative research about this northern Adelaide program, which has a deliberate theoretical and practical foundation in community development and place-making as a means for promoting and strengthening social inclusion, complementing its tenancy management and asset growth focuses. Tenants and other stakeholders report valued outcomes from the program’s community development activities—the focus of this article—which have included the coproduction of new and necessary social and physical infrastructures to support community participation and engagement among (vulnerable) tenants and residents, confidence in the social landlord and greater feelings of safety and inclusion among tenants, underpinning an improving sense of home, community and place. Consideration of program outcomes and lessons reminds us of the importance of the ‘social’ in social housing and social landlords. The program provides a model for how social landlords can work with tenants and others to (re)build home and community in places impacted by structural disadvantage, dysfunction, or change. The article adds to the literature on the role of housing, in this case community housing, as a vehicle for place-making and promoting community development and social inclusion.

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