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It continues to be unclear what opportunities and challenges that lie in the activation encounter as a communicative and relational situation. This study assumes that ambivalence is present in such encounters since ambivalence is common in transitions, relationships, and organisations. As a response to the limited body of knowledge about situated and relational aspects of activation work, this study examines handlings of ambivalence in authentic encounters between activation workers and young adults experiencing health and social barriers to employment. Data comprise recordings and transcripts of 23 counsellor-user encounters in the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Service. The findings show that ambivalence is present when possible next steps in the activation process are discussed, and subsequently influence decisions regarding next steps. While the counsellors display strong ambivalence when concrete job opportunities or disability pension are up for discussion, the users display strong ambivalence to work-oriented measures, and to some extent also to education and to employment when discussed as general and long-term goals. Findings are discussed considering theory and research on policy delivery. ; Det er fortsatt uklart hvilke muligheter og utfordringer som ligger i aktiveringsmøtet som en kommunikativ og relasjonell situasjon. Denne studien antar at ambivalens er til stede i slike møter siden ambivalens er vanlig i overganger, relasjoner og organisasjoner. Som et svar på den begrensede mengden kunnskap om situerte og relasjonelle aspekter ved aktiveringsarbeid, undersøker denne studien håndtering av ambivalens i autentiske møter mellom frontlinjearbeidere og arbeidsledige unge voksne med helserelaterte og sosiale problemer. Data omfatter lydopptak og transkripsjoner av 23 brukermøter i Norsk arbeids- og velferdsetat (NAV). Funnene viser at ambivalens er til stede når mulige 'neste steg' i aktiveringsprosessen diskuteres og påvirker beslutninger om videre kurs. De profesjonelle viser sterk ambivalens når konkrete jobbmuligheter eller uførepensjon er oppe til diskusjon, mens brukerne uttrykker sterk ambivalens til arbeidsrettede tiltak, og til en viss grad også til utdanning og til arbeid når disse diskuteres som generelle og langsiktige mål. Funn diskuteres med tanke på teori og forskning om politikklevering. ; publishedVersion

This article discusses recent debates on 'activating' labour market policies in light of German reforms since 2003. Beckian and Giddensian theories of modernity, political economy, and the governmentality school all argue within a common paradigm of individualisation, assuming the 'responsibilised' and isolated individual to be the focal point of activation policies. This paradigm is questioned, as the exclusive focus on the individual obscures something else, namely that 'activation' policies can also be seen as contributing to a dynamic of dividualisation, i.e. of making the subject of labour power fundamentally divisible. It is demonstrated that in the recent German reforms, dividualisation provides an organising logic pervading the instruments of activating labour market policies and the ways in which they are articulated in a policy programme. It is concluded that dividualisation, particularly evident in the German case, may provide a useful frame for analysing labour market reforms in other advanced capitalist economies.

Activation as a social policy topic has been investigated since the late 1990s and continues to be popular in academic analysis and discourse. In this review, we highlight the wide range of research aims and themes covered within relevant publications. We also identify a considerable degree of conceptual inconsistency and ambiguity across the literature. Informed by methodological considerations, we conclude by suggesting a parsimonious root concept of activation which would allow for a more consistent and less ambiguous application within and across different levels of analysis.

This qualitative study sought to identify dignity‐based practices in a Norwegian activation programme − the Qualification Programme. Some welfare recipients are likely to experience shame in connection with their interaction with the welfare system. Previous research suggests that a dignity‐based approach could help welfare recipients to avoid such negative experiences. The operational components of dignity have been identified as autonomy, empathy and rights. Data gathered through individual interviews with participants and activation workers were examined using interpretative phenomenological analysis with a focus on exploring respondents' perceptions of events to which they ascribe meaning. The findings indicate that accounts of empathy were common, but that the study's participants seldom reported experiencing that their autonomy and rights were enhanced. Participation in the programme appeared to undermine the participants' dignity, particularly when individual needs were overlooked. An underlying reason could be the current move away from a comprehensive understanding of service users' different needs and to a narrow focus on employability.

PurposeThis editorial aims to introduce the first of a set of two special issues on New modes of governance in activation policies.Design/methodology/approachThe article explores the concept of governance, distinguishing a broad and more narrow use of the concept. Then, it argues that issues of governance should be an integral part of studies of welfare state transformations. Not in the last instance, because governance reforms do have an impact on the content of social policies and social services such as activation. The article continues by discussing three models of the provision of social services.FindingsThe article states that the development of the modes of governance in activation in various countries reveals that a mix of service provision models is being used.Originality/valueThe article introduces the articles of the special issue.

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to analyse the diversity of markets for the provision of activation services.Design/methodology/approachThe article is based on the outcomes of a project involving nine European countries. The project investigated changing forms of governance of income protection schemes and activation services for unemployed people. Diversity is investigated by focusing on five dimensions of diversity derived from the quasi‐market concept as developed by Le Grand: the purchasers, the providers, the customers, the purchaser‐provider split and the purchaser‐customer split.FindingsThe paper finds considerable diversity in the design of markets for the provision of activation. Diversity is visible in all dimensions involved in the analysis. One interesting finding is that a full split between purchasers and providers hardly exists, although some countries have introduced a stricter split than others. Another finding concerns the voice and choice of service consumers, which seems hardly affected by the introduction of market mechanisms in the provision of activation. Finally, marketisation does not seem to be an irreversible project, as de‐marketisation processes were identified as well.Originality/valueMost current research into activation markets and their effects pays little attention to the issue of diversity in the design and functioning of markets. This article argues in favour of more systematic research of market diversity and of the variety of effects of various market models. Rather than comparing marketised with public service provision, a stronger focus on various market models may strengthen our insight into how service provision models affect the effectiveness of activation services.

AbstractMotivated by inventory control problems with set-up costs, we consider a coordination game where each player's dynamics is an inventory model characterized by a controlled input and an uncontrolled output. An activation cost is shared among active players, namely players who control their dynamics at a given time. At each time, each player decides to be active or not depending on its inventory level. The main contribution of this paper is to show that strategies at a Nash equilibrium have a threshold structure on the number of active players. Furthermore, we provide an explicit expression for the lower and upper threshold is given both in the deterministic case, namely when the exogenous signal is known, and in the single-stage game. The relevance of the above results is discussed in the context of inventory control where Nash equilibrium reordering strategies imply that a single retailer reorders only if jointly with a number of other retailers and will reorder to restore a pre-assigned inventory level.

We examined whether or not self-efficacy plays a role in stereotype-activation effect. We found in Study 1 (N = 46) that compared to being primed with the stereotype of an occupation that required less mental effort (cleaner), participants primed with the stereotype of a highly
qualified information technology expert performed better in a general knowledge test. Self-efficacy reliably mediated the effect of stereotype activation on test performance. In Study 2 (N = 46) we found that the group primed with the stereotype of an athlete exhibited greater endurance
in a physical test than did those who were primed with the stereotype of a homeless person. These results show that self-efficacy beliefs acted as a mediator in the behavior of the participants.

Processes involving an automatic activation of stereotypes in different contexts were investigated using a priming paradigm with the lexical decision task. The names of social categories were combined with background pictures of specific situations to yield a compound prime comprising category and context information. Significant category priming effects for stereotypic attributes (e.g., Bavarians – beer) emerged for fitting contexts (e.g., in combination with a picture of a marquee) but not for nonfitting contexts (e.g., in combination with a picture of a shop). Findings indicate that social stereotypes are organized as specific mental schemas that are triggered by a combination of category and context information.

This e-book is the first of a set of two special issues on new modes of governance in activation policies. Nowadays, the concept of "governance" is widely used by social scientists from a variety of disciplines. Reforming governance has become a part of the strategies that governments develop to cope with processes of social change. This e-book looks at one specific area of social policies, activation policies

This is the second e-book of the International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy dedicated to the discussion and analysis of the introduction of new modes of governance in activation or reintegration policies. While the introduction of the previous issue focused on the concepts of "governance" and "activation", their multiple meanings and their complex and ambiguous interweaving, here we will attempt to interpret the changes addressed by those concepts in their context, in order to grasp the larger picture of the societal transformation underlying them. In other words