Suchergebnisse

Contextualisation of cross-national comparisons

Most social scientists agree that it is necessary to analyse social phenomenon in context. However, the notion of context is most often used loosely and arbitrary. Therefore, this article invites to reconsider the notion of contextualisation, and it is argued that a contextual approach entails that social relations must be given primacy in the analysis of social phenomenon.
A contextual model is developed in order to understand the marked differences in female labour force participation in Denmark and Italy. It is argued that we find low female participation rates in Italy due to a familial social system (traditional family, residuel welfare state, closed labour markets) which corresponds to a centripetal female orientation, while we find high female labour force partici-pation in Denmark due to a contractual social system (dual family, institutional welfare state, open labour markets) which corresponds to a centrifugal female orientation.

There have been major shifts in the framework of social policy and welfare across Europe. Adopting a multi-level, comparative and interdisciplinary approach, this book develops a critical analysis of policy change and welfare reform in Europe. The book applies a dynamic and change oriented perspective to shed light on policy changes that are often poorly understood in the welfare literature, and contributes to a further development of the theoretical and conceptual frameworks for understanding social change. Using citizenship as a focus, several dimensions of change are analysed simultaneously: changes in the discipline of social policy itself; the changing character of social problems; changes in social policy and citizenship; and the emergence of new forms of social integration. The book also speculates on how different dimensions of change are interlinked