On the common sense of social reproduction: Social assistance and ideologies of care in austerity Europe (original) (raw)

Social work and the politics of ‘austerity’: Ireland and Italy

European Journal of Social Work, 2016

No detailed analyses have been undertaken comparing and contrasting how social work is responding to the problems generated by the imposition of so-called 'austerity' measures in Europe. Comprised of three sections, the discussion is focused on Ireland and Italy. This comparative exploration locates social work within encompassing frameworks related to the changing population, political economy and welfare regime in each of these jurisdictions. Aspects of contemporary social work within Ireland and Italy are charted and the possibilities for confronting neoliberal 'austerity' are analysed. The article seeks to prompt and encourage comparative reflection within Europe in relation to how the social work imagination can be imbued with a new radicalism in the first quarter of the twenty-first century. Non ci sono studi dettagliati dedicati a analizzare e discutere come il servizio sociale stia rispondendo ai problemi provocati dall'imposizione delle misure della cosiddetta 'austerità' in Europa. Composto di tre parti l'articolo si focalizza su Irlanda e Italia. Questa esplorazione comparativa colloca il servizio sociale all'interno di alcune cornici generali legate ai cambiamenti socio demografici, alla politica economica e ai regimi di welfare in vigore in questi paesi. Vengono delineate le principali caratteristiche del servizio sociale contemporaneo in Irlanda e in Italia e si analizzano le possibilità di far fronte e contrastare all'austerità neoliberista. L'articolo cerca di promuovere e incoraggiare una riflessione comparativa europea in merito a come l'immagine del servizio sociale del primo quarto del ventunesimo secolo possa essere permeata di un nuovo radicalismo.

Rethinking welfare history through a transnational and global lens. A gender-focused analysis of the Italian case

Italia Contemporanea Yearbook 2020, 2021

This article examines recent Italian historiography on welfare, with a particular focus on gender-oriented research. It relates recent Italian studies to the international debate, in order to identify acquisitions, open problems and perspectives. Its aim is to show how these studies could improve if a transnational and, broadly speaking, global approach was adopted, and it discusses a series of possible themes and issues to be addressed.

Southern European welfare regimes and the worsening position of women

Journal of European Social Policy, 1999

The article contributes to the current debate on welfare regimes, bringing together the widespread need for a fourth welfare regime besides Esping-Andersen's well-known typology, and the results of its feminist critique. It is particularly in the case of Southern European countries that a gendered point of view seems crucial, to define the specificities of a different path in developing social protection. On the other hand, comparative analyses on gender and welfare state only seldom consider Mediterranean countries. In these countries the concept of subsidiarity formulated for continental-corporatist welfare regimes has to be modified: the family is still centre stage, but in the sense that only certain social risks are covered largely by the welfare state, those against which the family cannot protect itself. On the contrary, the state does not support families' normal functioning, as usually happens in etatist conservative countries. The only form of help on the part of the state has so far been to tolerate family strategies which bring together many 'breadcrumbs' of revenue. Since this relationship between the family and social policies has usually remained invisible, it is highly probable that today's rationalizing interventions on social provisions may have even worse effects on women's condition. Some recent transformations of Italian welfare state are analysed as an example of such a danger.

Gender, Poverty and Social Exclusion This article is closely based on a paper first given at the conference, Beyond the feminisation of poverty (University of Padua, November 1999) and published in Italian as J. Millar (2000) Genere, povert e esclusione sociale, in F. Bimbi, E. Ruspini (eds.), Po...

Social Policy and Society, 2003

This article discusses some of the problems involved in trying to develop gender-sensitive ways of measuring poverty. It argues that what is needed is a way of placing individuals within households and measuring both their contribution to the resources of that household and the extent of their dependence on the resources of others within the household. It is argued that this should involve examining sources as well as levels of income, and by adopting an approach that is dynamic, rather than static. The concept of social exclusion – multi-dimensional, dynamic, local and relational – could provide a way to explore these issues of autonomy and dependency, and their gender dimensions.

The State, Religious Institutions, and Welfare Delivery: The Case of Portugal

FAITH-BASED ORGANIZATIONS AND SOCIAL WELFARE Associational Life and Religion in Contemporary Western Europe

Mainly through the notable faith-based institution called the Misericórdia, whose origins lie in the Middle Ages, the Roman Catholic Church has long played an important role in the delivery of welfare in Portugal. While it continues to have autonomous sources of funding, the church is also heavily reliant on funding from the state. In the wake of democratization in 1974, the Portuguese state enacted several laws, recognizing and promoting the development of non-profit social service actors, that could contract with the state. A reformulation of the relationship with the national Misericórdia network was a distinct element of this attempt to place the relationship between the state and civil society actors—including the church—on a new footing. More recently, the Eurozone crisis has resulted in markedly higher social need while placing significant budgetary pressure on the Portuguese state. Non-profits have been asked to do more with less and to diversify their funding streams. This chapter examines the areas of welfare services where faith-based organizations have been particularly active, the changing finances of these activities, and the evolving ecology of social service delivery, as new civil society organizations and market-oriented businesses have entered the field

Austerity, the state and common sense in Europe: A comparative perspective on Italy and Portugal

Anthropological Theory

In this article, we examine the making of austerity as common sense, located at the intersection of state interventions and the everyday practices and moral logics through which austerity emerges as an acceptable livelihood possibility for individuals, households and communities. Our argument is based on a comparative analysis of austerity in Italy and Portugal, with a focus on popular austerities among working-class households in two post-industrial towns. With the aim of addressing the conundrum of the pervasiveness of austerity, we emphasise the relevance of Gramsci’s notion of common sense to expand the anthropological theorisation of austerity as a hegemonic project combining coercion and consent, capable of reconfiguring the state, and as a field of contradictions integral to the very making of common sense. We argue that austerity regimes become operative through the deployment of institutional coercive practices, moral arguments and the ideological co-optation of historical ...

‘Neoliberal feminism’: Legitimising the gendered moral project of austerity

The Sociological Review, 2020

This article focuses on how middle-class women identify with ‘neoliberal feminism’ within the context of UK austerity by drawing on interviews with 17 women in Leeds, London and Brighton during 2014 and 2015. The article argues that the way in which these women identify with, understand and discuss whom feminism is important for, converges with a range of values present in the austerity discourse. In line with the principles of ‘late modernity’, feminism is spoken through an individualised lifestyle discourse, with an emphasis on the need to be resilient and have a positive mental attitude to deal with forms of inequality. Due to the particularity of the context, women create distance, and classed and racialised distinctions away from women who are suffering in the current context. This distancing is crucial to the maintenance of the austerity project, since, instead of helping to put an end to gender inequality, this form of feminism aids the legitimation of hierarchical relationsh...

Ethnos Journal of Anthropology 'Te lo tienes que currar': Enacting an Ethics of Care in Times of Austerity

Ethnos, 2020

Amid austerity policies that have retracted welfare programmes and have affected the livelihood of people in Spain, this paper describes how various local practices of care among members of the PAH (Platform for People Affected by Mortgages) work to recuperate social relations morally and practically. I seek to understand the relationship between people’s perceptions of social justice and notions of fairness on the one hand and ideas about deservingness on the other. I am interested in exploring who gets to choose and allocate, and how people in the PAH use the collective notion of care to justify their choice. I analyse the conundrums of a movement that struggles to find a balance between individual judgments and the collective good; I aim to show the dilemmas and contradictions of the struggle for social justice.