Street-Level Organizations and the "Real World" of Workfare: Lessons from the US

By the end of the 20th C., workfare and labor market activation policies had become increasingly common around the globe. These developments provoked debate over whether these policies were advancing a project of commodification (Esping-Andersen 1990) by marketizing citizenship or a project of inclu...

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Main Author: Evelyn Z. Brodkin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Social Work & Society 2015-04-01
Series:Social Work and Society
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Online Access:http://132.195.130.183/index.php/sws/article/view/1484
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author Evelyn Z. Brodkin
author_facet Evelyn Z. Brodkin
author_sort Evelyn Z. Brodkin
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description By the end of the 20th C., workfare and labor market activation policies had become increasingly common around the globe. These developments provoked debate over whether these policies were advancing a project of commodification (Esping-Andersen 1990) by marketizing citizenship or a project of inclusion by bringing marginalized groups into the economy and society or whether they were advancing inclusion by supporting labor market participation. Assessment of this developments is complicated, in part, by the bewildering array of policy labels under which they have occurred, among them welfare-to-work, labor market activation, jobseekers' allowance, Hartz reforms, and revenu minimum d'insertion. Yet, the many variants of workfare and activation tend to draw on a common assortment of features, among them, potentially enabling provisions for training and work. The shift toward conditionality in benefits is part of a broad trend that, in some countries, has eroded or even replaced rights-based benefits that were previously conditioned primarily on need, legal right (e.g., compensation to unemployed workers), or family status (e.g, welfare benefits for families with children).
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spelling doaj-art-e3fd2c5a41d24e2e81c2c09640c36c832025-07-31T00:02:09ZengSocial Work & SocietySocial Work and Society1613-89532015-04-01131Street-Level Organizations and the "Real World" of Workfare: Lessons from the USEvelyn Z. BrodkinBy the end of the 20th C., workfare and labor market activation policies had become increasingly common around the globe. These developments provoked debate over whether these policies were advancing a project of commodification (Esping-Andersen 1990) by marketizing citizenship or a project of inclusion by bringing marginalized groups into the economy and society or whether they were advancing inclusion by supporting labor market participation. Assessment of this developments is complicated, in part, by the bewildering array of policy labels under which they have occurred, among them welfare-to-work, labor market activation, jobseekers' allowance, Hartz reforms, and revenu minimum d'insertion. Yet, the many variants of workfare and activation tend to draw on a common assortment of features, among them, potentially enabling provisions for training and work. The shift toward conditionality in benefits is part of a broad trend that, in some countries, has eroded or even replaced rights-based benefits that were previously conditioned primarily on need, legal right (e.g., compensation to unemployed workers), or family status (e.g, welfare benefits for families with children). http://132.195.130.183/index.php/sws/article/view/1484social servicesstreet-level practiceorganizational studies
spellingShingle Evelyn Z. Brodkin
Street-Level Organizations and the "Real World" of Workfare: Lessons from the US
Social Work and Society
social services
street-level practice
organizational studies
title Street-Level Organizations and the "Real World" of Workfare: Lessons from the US
title_full Street-Level Organizations and the "Real World" of Workfare: Lessons from the US
title_fullStr Street-Level Organizations and the "Real World" of Workfare: Lessons from the US
title_full_unstemmed Street-Level Organizations and the "Real World" of Workfare: Lessons from the US
title_short Street-Level Organizations and the "Real World" of Workfare: Lessons from the US
title_sort street level organizations and the real world of workfare lessons from the us
topic social services
street-level practice
organizational studies
url http://132.195.130.183/index.php/sws/article/view/1484
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