Ask rather than assume: the capability approach in the practitioner setting1

2019 ◽  
pp. 107-124
Author(s):  
Jana Javornik ◽  
Mara A. Yerkes ◽  
Erik Jansen
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Policy Implementation ◽  
Capability Approach ◽  
Policy Design ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Social Policies ◽  
Policy Practice ◽  
The Social ◽  
Key Features ◽  
The Capability Approach

This chapter investigates the relationships between science and society, in particular social policy 'practice', by consulting the social policy actors (i.e. researchers, professionals and practitioners who deal with or implement diverse policy decisions). The purpose of the chapter is to develop our innovative communication initiative, in which we engaged with social policy professionals and practitioners in a two-way, mutually enriching theory-practice dialogue. Using the capability approach as an analytical lens hereallows for a fresh look at social policy implementation and delivery and helps to better understand how social policies in their entirety play out in different contexts. The historical and political contexts of social policies and people's different needs and values, the cornerstone of the CA, are increasingly recognised by policy practitioners and professionals who have first-hand experience with policy delivery or application at the local level. This chapter demonstrates that their experience with multiple access and eligibility-related issues on the ground sheds new light on the applicability of the CA, and how this approach may help to identify key features grounded in local knowledge, be it around social policy design, delivery or implementation.

Human development, capabilities and the ethics of policy

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans-Uwe Otto ◽  
Melanie Walker ◽  
Holger Ziegler
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Human Development ◽  
Capability Approach ◽  
Buenos Aires ◽  
National Level ◽  
Policy Practice ◽  
Policy Interventions ◽  
The Social ◽  
Different Parts ◽  
The Capability Approach

This book examines policy interventions driven or influenced by human development or human security concerns and how a capability approach can be implemented to achieve more just societies and foster equal opportunities for individuals and groups across the social and class spectrum. It also analyses the discrepancies and obstacles that actual policies present to what a capability approach could mean in social policy practice. The primary goal of the capability approach is to advance democracy at the community, local and national level in ways that promote genuine possibilities for agency to enable everyone to actively participate in shaping public policy. The book considers how the capability approach has been conceptualised and operationalised into practice in different parts of the world, including India, Buenos Aires, South Africa, England and New York City.

Social Policy and the Capability Approach

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Policy Analysis ◽  
Capability Approach ◽  
Policy Research ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Social Policies ◽  
Research And Practice ◽  
Policy Fields ◽  
The Capability Approach

The capability approach, an increasingly popular conceptual and theoretical framework focused on what individuals are able to do and be, offers a unique evaluative perspective to social policy analysis. This book explores the advantages of this approach and offers a way forward in addressing conceptual and empirical issues as they apply specifically to social policy research and practice. Short conceptual and empirical chapters provide clear examples of how policies shape the capabilities of different groups and individuals, critically assessing the efficacy of different social policies across multiple social policy fields, providing both academic and practitioner viewpoints.

Capability-Promoting Policies

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Human Development ◽  
Capability Approach ◽  
Contemporary Society ◽  
Equal Opportunities ◽  
Welfare Policies ◽  
Marginalized Communities ◽  
Policy Practice ◽  
The Social

Most current social welfare policies aim to ameliorate immediate problems or injustices, but they do little to foster human development or support the potential of people within marginalized communities. How can we more effectively use public policy to foster human development? How can we overcome the injustice of contemporary society and give people across the social and class spectrum equal opportunities to flourish? This book offers case studies and analyses of a number of different existing approaches to these questions, presenting newly conceptualised strategies for developing and implementing effective policies for fostering human development at the local, national, and international levels. It examines the discrepancies and obstacles that actual policies present to what a capability approach can do in social policy practice. The goal is to stimulate debate on how to overcome barriers in a variety of existing social policy scenarios.

scholarly journals Silent Non-Exit and Broken Voice. Early Postcommunist Social Policies as Protest-Preempting Strategies

Südosteuropa ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
pp. 150-174
Author(s):  
Pieter Vanhuysse
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Interest Groups ◽  
Action Theory ◽  
Political Sociology ◽  
New Democracies ◽  
Social Policies ◽  
The Social ◽  
Competing Interest ◽  
Distributive Conflict

Abstract This essay contributes to the development of an analytical political sociology examination of postcommunist policy pathways and applies such an analysis in a reinterpretation of the social policy pathways taken by Hungary and Poland. During the critical historical juncture of the early 1990s, governments in these new democracies used social policies to proactively create new labor market outsiders (rather than merely accommodate or deal with existing outsiders) in an effort to stifle disruptive repertoires of political voice. Microcollective action theory helps to elucidate how the break-up of hitherto relatively homogeneous clusters of threatened workers into newly competing interest groups shaped the nature of distributive conflict in the formative first decade of these new democracies. In this light, we see how the analytical political sociology of postcommunist social policy can advance and modify current, predominantly Western-oriented theories of insider/outsider conflict and welfare retrenchment policy, and can inform future debates about emerging social policy biases in Eastern Europe.

scholarly journals Post-disaster social reconstruction and social development

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Manohar Pawar
Keyword(s):  
Social Development ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Asia Pacific ◽  
Social Policies ◽  
Social Reconstruction ◽  
The Social ◽  
Development Approach ◽  
Multi Stakeholder ◽  
Post Disaster

The Asia-Pacific region has experienced major disasters, both natural and man-made, in the recent past. Hundreds of families and communities, and several governments, non-government organisations, international organisations and aid agencies have been engaged in relief, rebuilding and rehabilitation activities with varying degrees of effectiveness and success. This article aims to reflect on some of these post-disaster reconstruction experiences; exploring how a social development approach can be employed for the post-disaster social reconstruction; and suggest regional social policies and strategies for multi-stakeholder cooperation to effectively address post-disaster issues at the local level. Although efforts made by several agencies in very challenging contexts are commendable, there are few examples to show the application of the social development approach. By discussing the social development approach, the paper argues that the conscious use of such an approach facilitates a better planning and preparation for anticipated disasters, rehabilitation processes and the comprehensive development of disaster affected areas, including environmental and psycho-social issues. Towards this end, it underscores the role of regional social policies and multi-stake-holder cooperation. The discussion has implications for local and international communities, which are engaged in pre-planning and preparation for disasters and post-disaster reconstruction.

Approccio delle capacitŕ e sociologia economica: un matrimonio vincente per lo studio delle politiche

2009 ◽  
pp. 66-79
Author(s):  
Gianluca Busilacchi
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Economic Sociology ◽  
Capability Approach ◽  
Social Scientist ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Amartya Sen ◽  
Empirical Level ◽  
The Capability Approach

- Over the last year the capability approach has been widely used by social scientist. Its success is mainly due to the richness of its theoretical framework and the possibility to enrich the interdisciplinary researches also at the empirical level. However the empirical applications in the field of public policy, especially social policy, are still very limited: what is the reason? And which is the role of economic sociology in contributing to the analysis of social policy endorsing the capability approach? The first part of the paper concerns the explanation of the theoretical framework of the capability approach, through an analysis of its main concepts and empirical applications. Then we will try to see why the capability approach can be especially used by economic sociology, and why this social science can be enriched by the capability approach to analyse social policy with a richer toolbox.Keywords: social policy, capability approach, economic sociology, public policy, Amartya Sen, poverty

scholarly journals Comment: American Civilization, Catholic Social Thought, and the Populist-Oriented Social Policy of President Donald J. Trump

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
pp. 255-263
Author(s):  
Joseph A. Varacalli ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Social Thought ◽  
Tea Party ◽  
Social Policies ◽  
Catholic Social Thought ◽  
The Social ◽  
Primary Focus ◽  
The Relationship

This Comment concerns itself with the relationship between the social policies of U.S. President Donald J. Trump and, respectively, American civilization and Catholic social thought. Also included are discussions of two recent American populist social movements, the Tea Party and that one generated by a commitment to the Trump Presidency, insofar as the latter relates to the primary focus of this Comment.

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