Active Social Policies In The Eu: Inclusion Through Participation?

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The general objective of this book is to contribute to the debate on, as well as to the development and implementation of, EU social policies and social policies in EU countries, particularly the growing emphasis in these policies on "activation" and "participation" rather than income provision. This work makes this contribution by: reporting on international comparative research the contributors have been doing; reflecting on and critically assessing current activating social policies as well as evaluating their intended and unintended consequences and the presumptions they are based on; and offering recommendations with respect to the future design of activating social policies. The book's main themes are: the concepts of "social exclusion" and "social inclusion" and their conceptualisation in both social scientific and political discourse; the concept of work, the increasing heterogeneity of work in modern societies and the implications this has or should have for scientific and sociopolitical thinking about inclusion, participation and activation; the "paradigm shift" that can be observed in present social policies, which increasingly become directed at participation rather than (income) protection; reports on empirical research by the authors - in the context of an internationally comparative research project - into the inclusionary and exclusionary potentials of various types of work, including regular work, subsidised work programmes aiming at the unemployed, unpaid/informal work and training/education schemes; and the implications of these research findings for the issues outlined above, that is our thinking of work in relation to participation on the one hand, and social policies aiming at increasing participation on the other.

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ACTIVE SOCIAL POLICIES IN THE EU Inclusion through participation? Edited by Rik van Berkel and Iver Hornemann Møller ACTIVE SOCIAL POLICIES IN THE EU Inclusion through participation? Edited by Rik van Berkel and Iver Hornemann Møller First published in Great Britain in September 2002 by The Policy Press 34 Tyndall’s Park Road Bristol BS8 1PY UK Tel +44 (0)117 954 6800 Fax +44 (0)117 973 7308 e-mail [email protected] www.policypress.org.uk © The Policy Press 2002 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978 186134 280 5 Rik van Berkel is Researcher and Lecturer in Labour and Welfare State Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Utrecht University, the Netherlands, Iver Hornemann Møller is Professor in Comparative Welfare Research, Centre for Social Integration and Differentiation, Denmark. Cover design by Qube Design Associates, Bristol. The right of Rik van Berkel and Iver Hornemann Møller to be identified as editors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the 1988 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act. All rights reserved: no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission of The Policy Press. The statements and opinions contained within this publication are solely those of the editors and contributors and not of The University of Bristol or The Policy Press. The University of Bristol and The Policy Press disclaim responsibility for any injury to persons or property resulting from any material published in this publication. The Policy Press works to counter discrimination on grounds of gender, race, disability, age and sexuality. Printed and bound in Great Britain by Bell & Bain Ltd, Glasgow. Contents List of figures and tables iv Acknowledgements v No