Pedro Hespanha

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

How "Rural" Is Agricultural Pluriactivity?.

Abstract This paper questions the adequacy of the traditional approach to the study of agricultural pluriactivity which tends to be set within a narrow agricultural framework and assumes a descriptive nature. The basic argument is that an explanatory approach to contemporary forms of agricultural pluriactivity has to be informed by the process of capitalist restructuring and social change. This paper starts with a general analysis of the changing modes of the economic relations and then focuses on labour force reproduction structures. These are seen as most relevant in the context of a ‘semiperipheral’ society such as Portugal. It is concluded that although agricultural pluriactivity is clearly ‘rural’ in its origins, it contributes to, and gradually becomes part of, a wider process of change which transforms its very nature and blurs its original ‘rural’ boundaries.

‘Observing cities’ social inequalities: a cartographic case study of Aveiro, Portugal

Abstract The aim of the study is to present a methodology and an instrument to study cities through a case study undertaken in the county of Aveiro, in Portugal. More specifically, it is to establish a typology of social areas, via the concerns that define quality of life. The data are from 1991 (the last published census), collected by INE (National Agency of Statistic), and desegregated for sub-sections (each subsection has about 300 inhabitants). Seven indicators were chosen, submitted to principal component analysis, and 4 factors were extracted: socio-professional status, ageing of population and buildings, accommodation capacity and precarious housing conditions. The cluster analysis permitted the identification, within each factor group, of sub-sections with different quality of life: high-medium, medium, low-medium and low.

Activation policies and social inclusion in Denmark and Portugal

In recent years labour market policies have shifted from a philosophy of material compensation for the loss of a job to a philosophy of promoting new opportunities for employment through activation programmes for unemployed workers or social assistance recipients. The discourse of activation is compelling and it contains very positive arguments for the materialisation of basic social rights, or even of new social rights such as the right to work and to social insertion. Its practice, nonetheless, raises serious problems given its permeability to ethical, financial and bureaucratic distortions. In this article the inclusionary impact of activation programmes for the unemployed is analysed in two quite different social and political contexts: Denmark and Portugal. Ces dernières années, les politiques demploi sont passées dune philosophie de compensation matérielle en cas de perte dun emploi à une philosophie de promotion de nouvelles opportunités demploi, notamment à travers des programmes dactivation pour les chômeurs ou les bénéficiaires dallocations sociales. Le discours sur lactivation est attrayant et il contient des arguments très positifs en faveur de la concrétisation des droits sociaux fondamentaux ou měme de nouveaux droits sociaux tels que le droit au travail et à linsertion sociale. Sa pratique soulève néanmoins de sérieux problèmes en raison de sa perméabilité aux déformations dordre moral, financier et bureaucratique. Cet article analyse limpact en termes dinclusion sociale des programmes dactivation pour les chômeurs dans deux contextes sociaux et politiques tout à fait différents: le Danemark et le Portugal. In den letzten Jahren bewegten sich die Leitgedanken der Arbeitsmarktpolitik weg vom materiellen Ausgleich für den Arbeitsplatzverlust hin zur Förderung neuer Beschäftigungschancen durch Aktivierungsprogramme, sowohl für arbeitslose Beschäftigte als auch für Empfänger sozialer Leistungen. Der Aktivierungsdiskurs hat viel für sich und beinhaltet sehr positive Argumente für die Verwirklichung fundamentaler sozialer Rechte, und selbst neuer sozialer Rechte, wie des Rechts auf Arbeit oder soziale Eingliederung. Die Umsetzung in der Praxis schafft aber ernst zu nehmende Probleme, da sie anfällig ist für ethische, finanzielle und bürokratische Verzerrungen. In diesem Artikel wird das Eingliederungspotential von Aktivierungsprogrammen für Arbeitslose in zwei sehr unterschiedlichen gesellschaftlichen und politischen Kontexten untersucht: in Dänemark und Portugal.

The emancipation of disability studies in Portugal

Despite the interest of the social sciences in issues of exclusion and inequality, the question of disability, as a key issue of reflection, remains absent from many academic areas. The emergence of disability studies owes much to contexts in which the activism of disabled people has revealed the structural conditions that oppress and neglect experiences of disability. Bearing in mind the specific features of the Portuguese socio-political environment, two lines of inquiry are developed in this text. Firstly, what are the challenges faced by Portuguese academics in making disability a central issue, enabling it to confront the silencing of the voices and experiences of disabled people in society? Secondly, how important is it for research to engage with an ethical and political paradigm that supports the rights of disabled people?

As Teias que a Doença Tece: A Análise das Redes Sociais no Cuidado da Doença Mental

Este artigo pretende mostrar a importância de uma analise das redes sociais para compreender as trajetorias sociais e clinicas das pessoas com doencamental e conhecer as potencialidades e constrangimentos de ditas redes para a prestacao de cuidados num contexto de desinstitucionalizacao da doenca mental. Com base nas historias de vida de vinte pessoas com doenca mental e de sete estudos de caso realizados no interior desse grupo emPortugal, identificam-se os nos e os lacos das suas redes sociais, mapeando-se atores e tipos de apoio disponiveis. O artigo revela a vitalidade e a capacidade de resposta da rede familiar, mas mostra tambem as dificuldades materiais e emocionais enfrentadas, as fragilidades do apoio prestado pela familia e as limitacoes a autonomia e inclusao social das pessoas com doenca mental.

Compulsão ao trabalho ou emancipação pelo trabalho? Para um debate sobre as políticas activas de emprego

Em Portugal, a obrigacao de os trabalhadores desempregados se manterem disponiveis para aceitarem um trabalho conveniente foi criada em 1985, mas so a partir de 1989 ela da lugar a uma politica mais clara de activacao dos trabalhadores que estao a receber subsidio de desemprego. Mais recentemente, a partir de 1996, o Rendimento Minimo Garantido veio obrigar os beneficiarios dessa prestacao a assumirem o compromisso expresso de se disponibilizarem para aceitar um trabalho ou uma accao de formacao profissional. O texto discute o conceito de activacao e avalia as medidas de politica que tem procurado desenvolver essa filosofia em Portugal tendo em conta os contextos sociais e politicos da sua aplicacao.

Spinal Cord Injury in Portugal: Institutional and Personal Challenges

This article is dedicated to an analysis of the life trajectories of individuals with spinal cord injuries in Portugal. From a perspective that aims to understand the challenges faced in the different stages following the initial injury, it aims to relate corporeal, personal, and social impacts to medical, institutional, and political responses. Based on a total of 93 interviews, the analysis focuses on the period that starts with the event that caused the injury and extends to the present day, following the entire rehabilitation and integration process and identifying key structures, services, and institutions. In offering a critical reading of processes and structures that are capable of ensuring quality of life and social inclusion for persons with spinal cord injuries, it broadens the discussion to reveal the social exclusion widely experienced by persons with disabilities in Portugal.

Los Hilos Tejidos por la Enfermedad: El Análisis de Redes Sociales en el Cuidado de la Enfermedad Mental

Este artigo pretende mostrar a importância de uma analise das redes sociais para compreender as trajetorias sociais e clinicas das pessoas com doencamental e conhecer as potencialidades e constrangimentos de ditas redes para a prestacao de cuidados num contexto de desinstitucionalizacao da doenca mental. Com base nas historias de vida de vinte pessoas com doenca mental e de sete estudos de caso realizados no interior desse grupo emPortugal, identificam-se os nos e os lacos das suas redes sociais, mapeando-se atores e tipos de apoio disponiveis. O artigo revela a vitalidade e a capacidade de resposta da rede familiar, mas mostra tambem as dificuldades materiais e emocionais enfrentadas, as fragilidades do apoio prestado pela familia e as limitacoes a autonomia e inclusao social das pessoas com doenca mental.

How Disease Weaves Webs: An Analysis of Social Networks in Mental Illness Care

Este artigo pretende mostrar a importância de uma analise das redes sociais para compreender as trajetorias sociais e clinicas das pessoas com doencamental e conhecer as potencialidades e constrangimentos de ditas redes para a prestacao de cuidados num contexto de desinstitucionalizacao da doenca mental. Com base nas historias de vida de vinte pessoas com doenca mental e de sete estudos de caso realizados no interior desse grupo emPortugal, identificam-se os nos e os lacos das suas redes sociais, mapeando-se atores e tipos de apoio disponiveis. O artigo revela a vitalidade e a capacidade de resposta da rede familiar, mas mostra tambem as dificuldades materiais e emocionais enfrentadas, as fragilidades do apoio prestado pela familia e as limitacoes a autonomia e inclusao social das pessoas com doenca mental.