Suchergebnisse

"In the post-industrial or service societies of Europe, consumer cooperatives are still seen as a special organizational form, somehow different from ordinary private for-profit firms as well as from voluntary organizations without commercial pursuits. But where are the movements going from here? A number of decades of extensive deregulation and restructuring of many of the industries where cooperatives traditionally are found, and a simultaneous trend within the organizations themselves, have seen a drift towards a more single-minded market orientation. The author notes this development for the case of the consumer cooperative scene in Sweden, but nevertheless maintains that there are today both space and needs for cooperative solutions in our mature societies, in particular in the (co-)production and delivery of social services." (author's abstract)

ABSTRACT:  Many countries in Europe are now searching for new ways to engage citizens and involve the third sector in the provision and governance of social services in order to meet major demographical, political and economic challenges facing the welfare state in the 21st Century. Co‐production provides a model for the mix of both public service agents and citizens who contribute to the provision of a public service. Citizen participation involves several different dimensions: economic, social, political and service specific. The extent of citizen participation varies between different providers of welfare services, as too does user and staff influence. Empirical materials from a recent study of childcare in Sweden will be used to illustrate these points. However, the role of citizens and the third sector also varies between countries and social sectors. Third sector providers facilitate citizen participation, while a glass ceiling for participation exists in municipal and for‐profit providers. Moreover, co‐production takes place in a political context, and can be crowded‐in or crowded‐out by public policy. These findings can contribute to the development of a new paradigm of participative democracy.

This article addresses the dramatic increase of work-related demands and the deterioration of the psychosocial work environment for women employed in the public service sector in Sweden during the 1990s and the potential contribution of social enterprises to enriching women's work environment. The empirical part of the study of the staff of 57 day care centres, chosen throughout Sweden, compares the three main types of social enterprises providing day care services, namely parent cooperatives, voluntary organizations and worker cooperatives, with each other and contrasts them, in a retrospective study, with similar municipal services. The staff study shows that social enterprises provide good jobs in the sense of being both demanding and providing decision latitude for the employees. Women gain more control over their jobs through greater participation and influence in the decision-making processes of social enterprises. This both enriches their work life and results in a more engaged staff and better quality services.

This book addresses the need for a more democratic architecture for the European welfare state by promoting citizen participation, the third sector and co-production of welfare services.