scholarly journals Values and Experience of Neoliberal Reforms in Russian Regions: Dilemmas of Social Management

Author(s):  
Никита Викторович Большаков ◽  
Дарья Игоревна Присяжнюк ◽  
Елена Ростиславовна Ярская-Смирнова

The article offers a critical look at the challenges emerging within the reforms of the social services sector in Russian regions carried out in line with the New Public Management (NPM) principles. These reforms imply not only the renewal of management tools, but also changes at the cultural level. In this regard, the study is aimed at identifying how social managers explain the need for the transition to new relations, what tools they have, and what value contradictions arise in the field of decision-making on the issues of reforming the system of social services and in the practice of management. The study is based on the analysis of semi-structured interviews with regional administrators and managers of social services of various legal forms. While sharing values and applying in practice the tools of the new social management, the leaders of the social sphere and social services face the internal contradictions of this doctrine. Customer focus and initiative are not easy to reconcile with efficiency requirements; decentralization does not negate close control, and the quality of services is difficult to maintain in a rationalized environment. Nevertheless, the discourses of budget saving and humanization of services do not always contradict each other, managers strive to reach a compromise between different logics in the relationship between the state, organization, employee, and client. The article shows the specific and often multi-vector perspectives of regional administrators, as well as of managers of municipal and non-profit organizations — providers of social services. Under the pressure of the challenge to efficiency, regional administrators are forced to deal with conflicting tasks: on the one hand, they strive to increase competition in the social services market and to outsource part of the social services guaranteed by the state, and on the other hand, to support their budgetary organizations. The values of neo-managerialism affect not only the personnel policy, but also the content of the social service itself. Managers in the nonprofit sector sometimes find themselves in a situation of choice between rationalizing, increasing the efficiency of services and saving resources, on the one hand, and humanizing services, on the other. Building horizontal ties and associations allows leaders of non-profit social services to receive tools to represent collective interests before the state, as well as protection from excessive control by the bureaucratic apparatus. Acknowledgements. This article is an output of a research project implemented as part of the Basic Research Program at the National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE University). The authors thank the staff of the Moscow School of Management Skolkovo and the Agency for Strategic Initiatives for their help in organizing access to the field study, participating in the collection of data and discussing the first results of the field work, and also express their gratitude to their collocutors for an open and honest conversation.

Philosophy ◽  
1983 ◽  
Vol 58 (224) ◽  
pp. 215-227 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen R. L. Clark

Philosophers of earlier ages have usually spent time in considering thenature of marital, and in general familial, duty. Paley devotes an entire book to those ‘relative duties which result from the constitution of the sexes’,1 a book notable on the one hand for its humanity and on the other for Paley‘s strange refusal to acknowledge that the evils for which he condemns any breach of pure monogamy are in large part the result of the fact that such breaches are generally condemned. In a society where an unmarried mother is ruined no decent male should put a woman in such danger: but why precisely should social feeling be so severe? Marriage, the monogamist would say, must be defended at all costs, for it is a centrally important institution of our society. Political community was, in the past, understood as emerging from or imposed upon families, or similar associations. The struggle to establish the state was a struggle against families, clans and clubs; the state, once established, rested upon the social institutions to which it gave legal backing.


Author(s):  
Rodolphe De Koninck

To better understand, on the one hand, the remarkable and largely commendable transformation that Singapore has undergone over the last century and, on the other hand, its vulnerability, answers should be sought to the following two questions. Does not the relentless overhaul of Singaporean living space, nearly always considered as a fait accompli, yet always subject to being revised by the state, lead to territorial alienation among the city state’s citizens and permanent residents? Just as classical Athens and even classical Rome came to depend on a constant and everincreasing supply of foreign labour, Singapore has reached a point where its dependence on a modern and imported form of lumpenproletariat has become apparently irreversible. Is this sustainable?


2021 ◽  
pp. 59-84
Author(s):  
Jean-Michel Johnston

This chapter highlights the collaboration between individuals in state institutions and the private sector during the 1840s in Bremen, Bavaria, Prussia, and Austria. Earlier expectations for the potential of telegraphy were confronted with the sobering reality of technological development. On the one hand, the efforts of the state, scientists, and railway companies were supported by the increasingly free circulation of technical knowledge between institutions, experts, and private citizens scattered across the German ‘landscape of innovation’. This circulation is illustrated by an examination of various technical periodicals, while the example of Werner Siemens, a Prussian lieutenant posted in Berlin, is used to illustrate the social connections which also often supported these exchanges of information. On the other hand, the period also witnessed an accentuation of the tensions between and within the private sector and the state, as the latter sought to establish its own interest in obtaining the technology. This combination of necessary collaboration and disagreement caused frustrations which, by 1847, threatened to stall the process of development.


Author(s):  
Zoe Beenstock

This chapter explores Rousseau’s account of the tension between community and individual by examining the Second Discourse and the Social Contract on the one hand, and Julie on the other. In his political theory Rousseau defines the state of nature as a mere fantasy which belongs to an optative imagined past. In leaving the state of nature, people trade basic needs for decadent desires. Rousseau introduces the general will as a practical device for managing the asociability of the private will, which is driven mainly by appetite. To safeguard the general will from its wayward members, individuals must form a social contract which transforms them into sociable beings. In Julie Rousseau explores the sacrifices that individuals make in joining the general will, as Julie is torn between personal desire on the one hand and social conformity on the other. Rousseau’s literature suggests that the two are incompatible and thus ‘judges’ his philosophy, exploring the deathly outcome of contract. Rousseau’s use of literature to critique the social contract constitutes his major legacy to British Romantic writers.


2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 263-284
Author(s):  
Lothar Probst

The state election in Bremen in 2019 was marked by a head-to-head race between SPD and CDU and ended up with a considerably increased turnout and a historical result . The Christian Democrats managed to beat the Social Democrats for the first time in Bremen’s postwar history . The Greens achieved their second-best outcome in a Bremen state election and had the choice between a so-called Jamaica coalition or a left coalition . Whereas the pragmatic oriented Left Party succeeded to accomplish a two-digit result of 11 .3 percent, the Liberals and the Alternative of Germany underperformed with an outcome of about six percent of the votes . After a round of exploratory negotiations between Christian Democrats, Greens, and Liberals on the one hand and between Social Democrats, Greens, and The Left on the other hand, the rank and file of the Green Party decided to hold coalition talks with Social Democrats and the Left Party . Once the red-green-red coalition was built, the Senate’s president and SPD front-runner, Carsten Sieling, resigned . Instead, Andreas Bovenschulte became the Senate’s new president . Bovenschulte is a former chairman of Bremen’s Social Democrats and had already been elected to lead the SPD parliamentary party .


Artifex Novus ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 4-19
Author(s):  
Jerzy Kochanowski

Abstrakt: W konkluzji partyjnej komisji wysłanej w 1972 r. do Zakopanego stwierdzano, że „państwo w Zakopanem zostało postawione w sytuacji gorszej niż w kapitalizmie, bowiem zostało zepchnięte na pozycje nawet nie nocnego stróża, ale bezpłatnego dróżnika i zamiatacza ulic”. Na tę swoistą „autonomię Podhala miały wpływ uwarunkowania historyczne, społeczne, kulturowe i geograficzne, typowe dla społeczeństw (wysoko)górskich na całym świecie. Z drugiej strony ważnym aktorem było pod Tatrami również państwo, które od początku lat 50. do końca lat 80. XX w. próbowało objąć ścisłym nadzorem turystykę i sport, sektory decydujące o wizerunku i znaczeniu Zakopanego i regionu tatrzańskiego. Polityka taka napotykała jednak na szczeblu regionalnym na bardzo silne ograniczenia i sprzeciwy. Z jednej strony przyczyną tego stanu rzeczy były specyficzne sieci społeczne łączące sektor prywatny ze strukturami samorządowymi, państwowymi i partyjnymi, a nawet z milicją i wymiarem sprawiedliwości. Z drugiej zaś tylko dzięki przymknięciu oczu na często sprzeczną z obowiązującym prawem aktywność gospodarczą aktorów społecznych, zarówno górali, jak i przyjezdnych, było możliwe – przy niewydolności organizacyjnej państwa – zaspokajanie rosnących błyskawicznie po 1956 r. potrzeb modernizującego się społeczeństwa na usługi rekreacyjne. Dopiero w pierwszej połowie lat 70. socjalistyczne państwo było w stanie, dzięki zwiększonemu finansowaniu, zapewnić w miarę racjonalny rozwój infrastruktury turystycznej (np. Hotel Kasprowy). Jednak już od drugiej połowy lat 70. strukturalny kryzys systemu i w następnej dekadzie jego całkowita dezintegracja doprowadziły do sytuacji, w której instytucje państwowe musiały ustąpić pola aktorom społecznym. Summary: The conclusion of the state commission addressed in 1972 to Zakopane was: “in Zakopane, the state is in a position worse than in capitalism. It has been reduced to the role of not even a night-watchman, but of an unpaid street-sweeper”. The peculiar “autonomy” of Podhale-Region was affected by historical, social, cultural and geographical conditions that are usually mentioned, on the other hand the state was also an important actor and nowise ambiguous. The tendency to take a strict supervision of sectors decisive for the image and the importance of Zakopane and the Tatra region – tourism and sport, existed at the central level since the mid of ‘50s to the ‘80s, but at the regional level, the policy encountered very strong limitations. On the one hand, the reason for that was the emergence of specific social networks linking the private sector with the structures of local government, state and party, or even with the police and judicatory, on the other only thanks to them it was possible – under the organizational inefficiency of the state – to fulfill the modernizing society needs for leisure and related services, that were instantly growing after 1956. Only in the first half of 70s the socialist state was able to provide a relatively rational program, thanks to being an influential factor for modernization mostly thanks to still being in disposal of material resources. However, in the period of disintegration of the system, in the end of ‘70s and in the ‘80s, state’s program was no longer a barrier and alternative for the social actors.


Author(s):  
María Pérez-Ugena Coromina

Resumen: El objeto de este trabajo es una reflexión acerca de los conflictos que surgen en sociedades interculturales como consecuencia de marcos más plurales, acompañada de una propuesta de cauces de solución. Nos planteamos la conveniencia de utilizar mecanismos extrajudiciales de resolución de conflictos, en particular la mediación, como medio especialmente adecuado para este tipo de controversias. La integración en sociedades plurales exige un esfuerzo y toma de postura por el Estado. Los poderes públicos deben implicarse en lograr un mayor grado de convivencia democrática, incidiendo en el aspecto real y no formal de la libertad y la igualdad, de manera coherente con la concepción social del Estado. El Defensor del Pueblo es una figura idónea para poder actuar como mediador en conflictos propios de la interculturalidad. Su contacto con los problemas sociales, de una parte, y su posición neutral, basada en la auctoritas, de otra, le atribuyen unas características muy interesantes para que pueda ejercer esta función. Asumiría así el Estado este papel a través de la institución que resulta más cercana a la ciudadanía. Esto, a su vez, podría revertir en una mejora de la percepción social del Defensor del Pueblo.Palabras clave: Interculturalismo, mediación, Defensor del Pueblo.Abstract: The purpose of this work is a reflection on the conflicts that arise in intercultural societies as a consequence of more plural frameworks, accompanied by a proposal of channels of solution. We consider the convenience of using extrajudicial mechanisms for resolving conflicts, particularly mediation, as a particularly appropriate means for this type of dispute. The integration in plural societies requires an effort and takes position by the State. The public authorities must be involved in achieving a greater degree of democratic coexistence, focusing on the real and non-formal aspect of freedom and equality, in a manner consistent with the social conception of the State. The Ombudsman is an ideal figure to be able to act as mediator in conflicts of interculturality. His contact with social problems, on the one hand, and his neutral position, based on the auctoritas, on the other, attribute him some very interesting characteristics so that he can exercise this function. The State would assume this role through the institution that is closest to citizenship. This, in turn, could lead to an improvement in the social perception of the Ombudsman.Keywords: Interculturalism, mediation, Ombudsman. 


2015 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-54
Author(s):  
Karol Chylak

Abstract Social insurance was conceived from a great thought of the social caution, from the thought of protection of an uncertain future. That thought of caution, during the time of development of social insurance, was implemented by the public entities on the one hand and by the civil activity on the other one. However, the process of creation of the social insurance system in Poland did not represent the policy of caution executed by the state. The only sign of caution could be seen with reference to the insurance associations as there the participants decided whether to enter the system or not whereas the state executed the policy of giving privileges to the certain social groups


2020 ◽  
Vol 89 ◽  
pp. 07005
Author(s):  
Alla Aleksandrovna Bylinskaya ◽  
Sergey Aleksandrovich Sudin

The relevance of the research topic is due to the denationalization of the social services market and, as a result, the growing importance of the third sector in their provision; the development of civil society, the construction of social problems, in the solution of which non- profit organizations play an important role. A comparative analysis of assessments of the emerging model of interaction between civil society and the state will allow us to determine its current state, show strengths and weaknesses, the most pressing problems and development trends. A large role in the study of the issues raised belongs to the study and critical understanding of the leading practices of building interaction between the state and civil society, which will not only adapt the most appropriate practices, but also avoid possible problems. The proposed research will help to establish feedback between the state, business and supported NPOs and develop recommendations for optimizing this interaction. The aim of the study is to comprehensively evaluate the effectiveness of the emerging model of interaction between the state and NPOs as new actors in the country’s economic and socio-cultural policy and forecast the prospects for its development. The study is based on the study of the perceptions of leaders and key actors of NPOs about the prospects for the development of their organizations in the context of the emerging model of interaction with business and the state. The authors put forward a hypothesis about the need to study the assessments of the existing model of interaction between the state and NPOs by representatives of executive authorities responsible for the implementation of relevant programs, direct managers and key actors of NPOs, as well as representatives of target groups of their activities in the regions to determine the problems and prospects of interaction between the state, business and NPOs.


Author(s):  
Mohammed Ahmed Anfeekh

This article is intended to reveal that the topics concerned with health and disease cannot be a pure medical speech topic , because they are not only two physical happens , but they are built socially and culturally as well. thus , the sociologists have produced another speech , which , on the one hand , was regarded as parallel or marginal to medical speech , on the other hand , it was considered as competitive to it. the sociologists have relied on multiple entries so as to construct the social reality related to this topic , the social representations entry is among them , this entry has showed that expressing the state of health and disease is no longer presented by body language , as the doctors believe , but by the language of society and culture. therefore , it is compulsory to dispense with medical centralization and to adapt a various and extrovert vision. moreover , the issue of health should become a social matter that involves medical , political , economical , lawful , and cultural trends.


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