Suchergebnisse

During the 1990s the principle of workfarehas dominated welfare reforms in Europe; claimants are increasingly obliged to work in return for their benefits, otherwise they are denied the right to income support. In Norway this strategy is called the 'work line', and this article gives a critical account of five arguments used by the Norwegian government to justify it. The discussion focuses on the normative content and empirical assumptions involved in the arguments, and the conclusion is that none of them give good reasons to deny citizens basic opportunity goods. The article gives particular attention to the idea of social justice as reciprocity which is tacitly expressed in the arguments.

Unemployment in Europe is currently a major challenge. Two models for solving the problem are frequently proposed: a work model, which in its radical version institutes a legally binding right to employment, and a basic income model, which in its radical form establishes a universal, unconditional right to income security. In practice, western democracies have experimented with mixed forms of both models, with a greater emphasis on guaranteeing work. This article examines the justifications of these two models in their radical versions, with a special focus on the experience of self-respect. The conclusion is that the benefits that traditionally are associated with paid work function better in justifying a right to basic income than a right to work.

This is a sharp analysis of the unique Nordic welfare system with urgent lessons for governments and societies across the globe. Welfare programs and institutions tend to be analyzed as instrumental arrangements, overlooking the fact that welfare programs are essentially expressions of moral conceptions and values. This book recognises this distinction and offers analyses, perspectives and interpretations of the normative foundation of the 'Nordic welfare state model'. These authors examine the main normative principles in this model, exploring their origins and the relationship between.

1. Introduction / Rune Ervik, Nanna Kildal and Even Nilssen -- 2. Welfare contractualism, social justice and republican citizenship / Simon Birnbaum -- 3. Contractualising social policies : a way towards more active social citizenship and enhanced capabilities? / Jean-Michel Bonvin and Emilie Rasenstein -- 4. Contractualism and street-level discretion in Norwegian activation policy / Even Nilssen -- 5. From collective to individual responsibility? Changing problem definitions of the welfare state / Rune Ervik and Nanna Kildal -- 6. New obligation regimes in welfare policies : comparing Germany and the Scandinavian countries / Nanna Kildal and Even Nilssen -- 7. From unilateral towards reciprocal social policies : the changing normative basis of the Danish welfare state /JØrn Henrik Petersen -- 8. The pension contract : a matter of obligations / Patrick John Ring -- 9. Contractualism and the emergence of a new welfare regime / Rune Ervik, Nanna Kildal and Even Nilssen.

The 'Golden Age' of the welfare state in Europe was characterised by a strengthening of social rights as citizens became increasingly protected through the collective provision of income security and social services. The oil crisis, inflation and high unemployment of the 1970s largely saw the end of welfare expansion with critical voices claiming the welfare state had created an unbalanced focus on the social rights of individuals, above their responsibilities as citizens. During the 1980s many western countries developed contractual modes of thinking and regulation within welfare policy. Contractualism has proved a significant organising principle for public reforms in general, and for social policy reforms in particular as it embraces both a way of justifying certain welfare policies and of constructing specific socio-legal policy instruments. Engaging with both the critique of the welfare state and the subsequent policy responses, expert contributors in this book examine contractualism as a discourse, comprising principles and justifying ideas, and as a legal and social practice. Covering the international debate on conditionality they discuss European experiences with active social citizenship ideas and contractualism providing individual case studies and comparisons from a wide range of European countries.--