Alberta Andreotti

Local Welfare Systems: A Challenge for Social Cohesion

In recent decades, local welfare systems have been emerging in many Western countries as a consequence of bottom–up and top–down transformative pressures. Local welfare systems are defined as dynamic arrangements in which the specific local socioeconomic and cultural conditions give rise to different mixes of formal and informal actors, public or not, involved in the provision of welfare resources. This article presents some of the most important implications related to the emergence of local welfare systems and the challenges they face in seeking to build social cohesion. After a brief description of the reasons that justify a local approach to welfare, an account is provided of the scientific debate on local welfare and an indication given of the possible relations and tensions between the emergence of local welfare systems and the production of social cohesion.

Does a Southern European Model Exist

Introduction In the comparative literature on welfare systems1, South European countries (Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece) have been considered part of the conservative corporative model (Esping Andersen 1990; 1999) which is characterised by two main features: 1) a high level of subsidiarity to the family; and 2) the importance of the breadwinner position within the labour market. In this model, a relevant role in the de-commodification of people is played by family and by those associations operating in the non-profit sector (Laville 1994; Ascoli, 1999), the state intervenes only when the family fails. Access to social rights depends heavily, directly or indirectly, on employment entitlements, creating strong opposing poles of ‘insiders’ and ‘outsiders’. The model of the adult male breadwinner, protected by state and trade-union action, is the main form of citizenship in terms of income maintenance. However, apart from these main common features, there are important differences which make it necessary to distinguish continental European countries (France, Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands) from South European ones. In this contribution, we will try to give reasons for these differences adopting an historical narrative. Taking Esping Andersen’s work as starting point, we will frame it from an historical and not from a determinist perspective. This gives us the possibility of reading the differences in historical developments and the different factors which helped to create a separate cluster. From an historical point of view, taking the last fifty years, proletarianisation and migration are particularly relevant, as they contributed to the construction of welfare systems and the different groups at risk of poverty and social exclusion. These two processes are linked to the industrialisation process. The economy of

Globalised minds, roots in the city : urban upper-middle classes in Europe

Globalised Minds, Roots in the City utilises empirical evidence from four European cities to explore the role of urban upper middle classes in the transformations experienced by contemporary European societies. Presents new empirical evidence collected through an original comparative research about professionals and managers in four European cities in three countries Features an innovative combination of approaches, methods, and techniques in its analyses of European post-national societies; Reveals how segments of Europe’s urban population are adopting “exit” or “partial exit” strategies in respect to the nation state; Utilises approaches from classic urban sociology, globalization and mobility studies, and spatial class analysis; Includes in depth interviews, social networking techniques, and classic questions of political representation and values. (Resume editeur)

Local welfare systems in Europe and the economic crisis

The tendency towards the diffusion of more localised welfare provision is part of the wider post-industrial transformation and challenges the citizenship protection system that developed during the Fordist age. It is assumed that local welfare provision is more efficient and less expensive than centralised national welfare programmes. In this article we argue first that the process of transformation and localisation of welfare is driven by two different (sometimes opposing) forces: (1) the necessity to identify effective ways of responding to the need for social support which is increasingly individualised, fragmented and heterogeneous, and therefore to expand ‘active’ social policies; and (2) the necessity to keep under control (and more often reducing) national public spending. Second, we argue that a more integrated welfare system (involving the third sector, voluntary organisations and private providers) and one which is more locally differentiated poses a series of problems in terms of social and territorial inequalities. We then identify some conditions that can help to keep inequalities under control. In the conclusion we will see how the crisis is exacerbating these tendencies.

Female employment and the economic crisis

ABSTRACT One of the characteristics of the Italian peninsula is a sharp North-South gradient on many economic and labour market variables. This gradient is particularly marked in relation to female employment, making Italy a particularly useful ‘laboratory’ for studying changes in gender roles. Esping-Andersens description of the decline of the ‘male breadwinner’ model and the search for a ‘new equilibrium’ in gender roles is suggestive, but the assumption that current processes will inevitably converge towards a relatively homogeneous social configuration (exemplified by the Scandinavian countries) is rather unconvincing. We will show in this article that the Italian case comprises macro-regions with very different female employment rates and highly differentiated welfare systems. Furthermore, one of the effects of the economic crisis has been to obstruct the entry of women into paid work, particularly in the South where employment rates are already at a very low level. When discussing trends and changes in womens roles, it is important to remember that the resulting transformations are plural, contingent and discontinuous and strongly shaped by prevailing socio-economic conditions. In the context of a prolonged and severe crisis, the differences between Northern and Southern Italy have been further accentuated, impeding the development of coherent policy responses and obstructing change in gender roles.

La trasformazione della regolazione sociale del lavoro: l'occupazione femminile nell'Italia settentrionale e meridionale in prospettiva comparativa

The paper analyses the transformations in the social regulation of work through an examination of female employment and changes in the role of women in 271 industrial society. The processes of change have weakened the equilibrium of the Fordist regime founded on the breadwinner role, on a gendered division of labour, and on women’s responsibility for providing care services within the family. Thus the increase of women’s employment is not an effect of change, as are higher rates of unemployment and the spread of ‘atypical’ work, but is rather the key to redesigning a new equilibrium of social relations. The paper outlines a few European examples of change and then focuses on two specific cases of women’s employment in northern and southern Italy. Through this analysis we begin to shed light on the regulating tensions typical of the current phase of work transformation in industrial society.

The Use of New Technologies by Migrant Entrepreneurs in Two European Cities

Over the last 40 years, the growth and implementation of new technologies (in particular, ICTs) have made it possible to instantly virtually cross national borders to establish, enjoy, and maintain social links. This also applies to migrant entrepreneurs, and even more so to transnational migrant entrepreneurs, i.e. migrants who carry out business activities in connection with other countries. Previous literature has frequently underlined the connection between ICTs and transnational business practices, albeit implicitly. However, few studies have focused on the role of new technologies in transnational business activities carried out by migrants. Based on the empirical evidence generated through 70 interviews with Moroccan transnational and domestic entrepreneurs living in Amsterdam and Milan, the chapter addresses this role, stressing that ICTs are most important for migrants running a transnational business. First, ICTs make it easier to start and develop the cross-border business, by helping to reduce both the necessary time and the financial costs; secondly, different forms of communication (synchronous vs. asynchronous) are used according to different purposes; finally, transnational entrepreneurs need constant physical mobility to make ICTs effective in business relations.

The challenge of researching “partial exit” and “rootedness” among upper-middle classes in European cities

ABSTRACT The rise of mobilities has paved the way for important changes within cities and the possibility for urban upper-middle classes to exit from their cities and national societies, disinvesting on them, while still taking profits in a process of deterritorialization with important consequences at the collective level. Investigating the extent to which upper-middle classes shaped and are still rooted (or not) in their cities is a challenge, even more when international comparison is involved. In this paper we focus on two methodological aspects: 1) the different social meaning that upper-middle classes and the social groups composing them can have considering three Western European countries and four cities: Paris, Lyon, Milan and Madrid. 2) How we generated our data through personal interviews with European managers, and the conceptual framework that informed the understanding of rootedness, exit or partial exit of our managers.

Recommendations for the Sharing Economy: Increasing Participation

This report is part of a European Union Horizon 2020 Research Project on the sharing economy: Ps2Share ‘Participation, Privacy, and Power in the Sharing Economy’ (www.ps2share.eu). It presents the recommendations derived from Work Package 4 “Non-Participation, Inequalities, and Exclusion” within the Ps2Share project. Work Package 4 encompassed a systematic literature review on participation in the sharing economy (Andreotti, Anselmi, Eichhorn, Hoffmann, & Micheli, 2017), focus group discussions among Millennials in several European countries (Ranzini, Newlands, Anselmi, Andreotti, Eichhorn, Etter, Hoffmann, Jurss, & Lutz, 2017) and a largescale survey of citizens of twelve European countries (Andreotti, Anselmi, Eichhorn, Hoffmann, Jurss, & Micheli, 2017). The project also included three deliverables on the topic of privacy in the sharing economy: a comprehensive literature review (Ranzini, Etter, Lutz, & Vermeulen, 2017), a large-scale survey report (Ranzini, Etter, & Vermeulen, 2017) as well as recommendations on a more privacy-friendly sharing economy in Europe (Ranzini, Kusber, Vermeulen, & Etter, 2018). In addition, three deliverables on power in the sharing economy were produced: a comprehensive literature review (Newlands, Lutz, & Fieseler, 2017a), a large-scale survey report (Newlands, Lutz, & Fieseler, 2017b) as well as recommendations on a more empowering sharing economy in Europe (Newlands, Lutz, & Fieseler, 2018). Finally, two deliverables about platforms in the sharing economy formed part of the project: a comprehensive platform analysis report (Stanoevska-Slabeva, Lenz-Kesekamp, & Suter, 2017) and a set of platform design implications in the form of guidelines (Stanoevska-Slabeva, Lenz-Kesekamp, & Suter, 2018).

Local and Transnational Everyday Practices in Four European Cities: Are New Barbarians on the Road?

Based upon comparative empirical research, this chapter deals with the transnational mobility and rootedness practices of a segment of the upper middle classes (managers) in four European cities: Paris, Madrid, Milan and Lyon.1 The research follows a micro-level perspective, looking at individual experiences and practices and how they are expressed in interviews. In contrast to other studies on mobility (Elliott and Urry, 2010), this chapter simultaneously deals with the dynamics of mobility and rootedness of managers living in neighbourhoods with different social composition (mixed and homogeneous). We explore how these people combine mobility and deterritorialized practices, together with their embeddedness in their urban context and neighbourhoods. Comparing socially contrasted neighbourhoods allows us to grasp how our interviewees develop different practices in relation to their social context. Our main hypothesis is that this social group is developing ‘partial exit’ strategies, investing resources outside the city and developing transnational networks also to organize and defend its interests at the local level. In socially mixed neighbourhoods, where managers live with less privileged social groups, we expect these managers to put into practice ‘partial exit’ strategies to a larger extent than those managers living in homogeneous neighbourhoods.