L.C.J.M. Halman

BLAME OR FATE, INDIVIDUAL OR SOCIAL? An international comparison of popular explanations of poverty

This paper explores popular explanations of poverty. Based on existing theoretical and empirical studies, four types of reason for poverty are distinguished: (1) individual blame; (2) individual fate; (3) social blame; and (4) social fate. Data from the 1990 European Values Study surveys are used to describe and compare cross-nationally the proportions of people perceiving each of the four explanations as a main reason for people living in poverty. Further, it is explored whether or not differential patterns in these perceptions are related to types of welfare regime as distinguished by several authors. One of the main conclusions is that, contrary to prior evidence from Anglo-Saxon countries only, social blame is the most popular explanation of poverty in nearly all of the twenty countries studied. That is, the majority of people living in industrialized welfare states believe that poverty is the outcome of actions of social actors, rather than the inevitable result of individual or social fate. The idea that the poor are themselves to blame for their situation is on average more popular in Eastern European than in Western European countries, where the idea lost ground from the mid-1970s onwards. There is no relation between popular perceptions of poverty and type of welfare state regime. It is suggested that future research should narrow the focus on the relation between poverty perceptions and types of anti-poverty strategy.

Welfare state effects on social capital and informal solidarity in the European Union : evidence from the 1999/2000 European Values Study

English This article tests whether state-organised solidarity substitutes social capital and informal solidarity, based on recent data from the European Values Study. At country level, we find that welfare spending has a reinforcing effect on social capital and a negative substitution effect on informal solidarity. At the individual level, there is also evidence for a substitution effect, since informal solidarity is lower among people who live in countries that spend more on social protection. In addition, there is evidence of a ‘national burden’ effect, since informal solidarity is lower among people who live in countries with an older population, with higher unemployment, and with a higher percentage of immigrants.

Volunteering, Democracy, and Democratic Attitudes

In this chapter, we investigate the relationships between active participation in voluntary organizations and democratic attitudes in contemporary Europe. Much has been said about the motives which lead people to take part in voluntary activities, but less attention is given to the consequences of engagement in voluntary organizations for democracy. Most often, these consequences are taken for granted or regarded as obvious and self-evident. “Democratic viability or longevity requires that there is a system of organizations that are independent of governments” (Lane & Ersson, 1996: 187).

Volunteering and values

Volunteering has gained widespread public and political interest in recent years. Policy debates have taken place in many countries focusing on how to preserve and encourage volunteering, and various parliamentary and government commissions have studied ways to stimulate voluntary activities among diverse groups such as the young and the elderly, working parents and immigrants. 2001 was the United Nations Year of Volunteers, and this gave rise to all kinds of national and local manifestations, discussions and policy initiatives, often with a lot of media exposure. In the burgeoning social sciences literature on the (assumed) decline of civic community, the crumbling of civil society, and the erosion of social capital, volunteering is an indicator of the negative trends as well as a possible instrument for recovery. Volunteering is not just an expression of individual engagement and a spontaneous result of community life; it is often consciously organized and managed and it can be made an object of policymaking. This mixture of voluntariness and organization in the establishment of prosocial behavior makes volunteering a very interesting phenomenon.

Changing Values and Beliefs in 85 Countries

This book presents the trends in beliefs and values of people in 85 countries around the world from 1981 to 2004. It shows the cultural differences and similarities between countries and how human values are changing.

National Identity in Europe Today What the People Feel and Think

The issue of identity has recently gained cultural and political significance. The demise of communism in the Eastern Europe, the German reunion in Central Europe, and the Maastricht Treaty in Western Europe are said to have awakened nationalistic sentiments and movements, and processes of cultural, economic, and political internationalization and globalization are assumed to have caused not only increasing insecurity about national identity but also a loosening of the bond between collective and personal identity in Europe. The further unification of Europe is regarded by many Europeans as a threat to the survival of national cultures and identities. They fear that the disappearance of the internal borders between the European Union states may ultimately result in a loss of variety in national cultures and of distinct national identities. Further unification may cause problems of national identification and some observers have argued that it will therefore generate a reemphasis on regional and local cultures. This article elaborates on the pivotal notions of nation, nationalism, and national identity, and related issues. From a social-psychological perspective, it describes how national identity relates to personal identity. Data from the European Values Study Eurobarometer surveys are used to demonstrate cross-national differences and similarities in national self-identification and changes over time. The findings reveal a widespread support for the European unification project, but large majorities in Europe do not (yet?) feel strongly attached to Europe. The European Union has yet to emerge as a contender for the loyalties of its citizens.

The religious factor in contemporary society : The differential impact of religion on the private and public sphere in comparative perspective

This paper explores the relationships between values in the religious domain and values in other societal spheres. Starting from the general idea that the impact of religion on other domains in life has decreased, we assume 1) a differential impact of religion on the private and public domains; 2) that the impact varies between countries dependent upon the degree of secularization and the speed of secularization. Several more specific hypotheses concerning the interrelati-onships are developed and empirically tested using the data from the European Values Studies. The hypotheses are partially confirmed, but demonstrate that indeed the relationship between religion and the private domain (e.g. family) has developed differently from the relations between religion and the public areas.

Contemporary Work Values in Africa and Europe Comparing Orientations to Work in African and European Societies

In this article, two work orientations are compared in European and African countries. These continents differ in many respects and thus differences in work orientations were to be expected. We argue that people’s work orientations will be dependent upon a number of individual and contextual characteristics and we formulated some hypotheses that were empirically tested using the survey data from the recent EVS and WVS projects. The most important conclusion from these analyses is that there is no clear and obvious pattern, neither at the country nor at the regional level, that would explain the varieties and similarities in work orientations of populations. Although some explanations could be found on an individual level we were, however, surprised that the explanations found were not stronger. Thus, we should continue our efforts for finding explanations for differences and similarities in work orientations both at a structural and cultural level.

The Religious Factor in Contemporary Society

This paper explores the relationships between values in the religious domain and values in other societal spheres. Starting from the general idea that the impact of religion on other domains in life has decreased, we assume 1) a differential impact of religion on the private and public domains; 2) that the impact varies between countries dependent upon the degree of secularization and the speed of secularization. Several more specific hypotheses concerning the interrelationships are developed and empirically tested using the data from the European Values Studies. The hypotheses are partially confirmed, but demonstrate that indeed the relationship between religion and the private domain (e.g., family) has developed differently from the relations between religion and the public areas.

European Values in Numbers

This volume presents the value profiles of the people in European countries. It shows the cultural varieties and similarities in beliefs and values across Europe and provides insights in the differential and similar trends in basic orientations since 1981.