The Human Right to Social Security and Its Impact on Socio-Political Action in Germany and Finland

Social human rights have rarely been given attention in social work research or comparative studies on welfare states. The paper aims at filling the gap by analysing the conception of human beings inherent in human rights and in unemployment policy documents in Germany and Finland. Its focus lies on the right to social security, a central norm of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The main question is what impact does the right to social security have on socio-political action in Germany and Finland. The results of the analysis, which was based on the objective hermeneutics, revealed a structural similarity between the conceptions of human beings in both cou…

Research‐based knowledge about social work and sustainability

The ecosocial paradigm in social work : Striving for planetary well-being

This chapter focuses on the concept of planetary well-being from the perspective of social work. Social work is a practice-oriented profession and academic discipline that takes many different forms globally. We present an outline of the emerging ecosocial paradigm in social work. This rather new approach attempts to adjust the profession’s core emphasis on social problems of and between human beings, shifting it to a position that puts humanity’s dependence on the natural environment at its centre. The chapter discusses the similarities between the ecosocial paradigm and the concept of planetary well-being. It further asks what added value the concept of planetary well-being might bring to…

Ecosocial Innovations as Part of Social and Solidarity Economy : Local Models for a Sustainable Development

Este artigo apresenta o conceito de inovacoes eco-sociais. Conceito que remete para as organizacoes locais ligadas a economia social e solidaria cuja intervencao nao deixa de atender aos desafios sociais e ecologicos, podendo ser vistos como modelos de sucesso na operacionalizacao da sustentabilidade. Baseado num estudo comparativo multi-caso internacional, a partir de uma abordagem do Servico Social, o artigo procura mostrar o trabalho desenvolvido nestas iniciativas, salientando a importância das mesmas. Entrevistas recolhidas junto dos atores locais em quatro paises permitiram identificar sete caracteristicas comuns as diferentes experiencias estudadas. Destaca-se a identificacao de um p…

Combining labour market and unemployment policies with environmental sustainability? A cross-national study on ecosocial innovations

AbstractLabour market and unemployment policies in particular are rarely connected to issues of environmental sustainability. In the present article, the link is examined by focusing on ecosocial innovations in four European countries – Finland, Germany, Belgium and Italy. These innovations are small-scale associations, cooperatives or organizations that create new integrative practices combining both social and environmental goals. By asking how their social practices are linked with labour market and unemployment policies, we explore the scope for new ecosocial policies. The results of this cross-national case study lead to three lessons to be learnt for a future ecosocial welfare state: …

Kestävää siirtymää edistäviä työn ja toimeentulon muotoja : analyysi kirjallisuudesta

Artikkelissa tarkastelemme kestävää siirtymää edistäviä työn ja toimeentulon vaihtoehtoja. Artikkeli perustuu kirjallisuuteen, joka sisältää ekososiaalista sosiaalipolitiikkaa, kestävää kehitystä, kestävää työtä sekä kestävää taloutta koskevia julkaisuja. Artikkelin tarkoituksena on yhdistää kestävän siirtymän hallinnan tutkimusta hyvinvointivaltioiden tulevaisuutta koskevaan keskusteluun. Kuvaamme kirjallisuudessa esitettyjä vaihtoehtoja siirtymän tutkimuksessa käytettävän monitasomallin näkökulmasta: jäsennämme vaihtoehtoja keskeisten käsitteiden ”toimintaympäristön”, ”hallintojärjestelmän” ja ”paikallisten innovaatioiden” (niché) avulla. Analyysin tuloksena kuvaamme, miten ansiotyötä laa…

Ecosocial Innovations and Their Capacity to Integrate Ecological, Economic and Social Sustainability Transition

The article contributes to sustainability transition research by indicating the significance of transformative grassroots innovations in the context of social work research. We introduce the integrative concept of ecosocial innovation in order to demonstrate how grassroots innovations can successfully combine social, ecological and economic aspects of a sustainability transition. By ecosocial innovations, we refer to social innovations with a strong ecological orientation (e.g., recycling workshops, urban gardening, participatory unemployment projects and new local economies). The data consists of 50 examples of ecosocial innovations in Finland, Italy, Germany, Belgium and the UK. We invest…

Ecosocial Innovations in Europe : How Social and Solidarity Economy Actors Can Promote the Sustainable Development Goals

This paper focuses on small-scale social and solidarity economy (SSE) actors for a transformation towards sustainable societies. These actors’ ecosocial innovations (ESIs) - for example, food cooperatives, reuse centres, and alternative mobility projects - successfully combine all dimensions of sustainability in new ecosocial practices. By inventing and establishing these practices on the local level, the ESIs promote Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8 on employment and decent work, and also strengthen the implementation of other goals. The empirical part of this paper is based on a Finnish social work research project that examines multiple ESIs in four different European countries. The …

Human Rights–Based Social Work and the Natural Environment: Time for New Perspectives

AbstractThe natural environment and sustainability play an increasingly important role in social work as a discipline and profession. This is often described as the ecosocial paradigm. Even though the paradigm shares important ethical foundations with human rights–based social work, the connection between both is rarely examined in social work scholarship. This article addresses the gap by asking the following questions: How is the ecosocial paradigm linked to the human rights discourse in social work? What is the environmental dimension of human rights, and what implications does it have for social work? How can a human rights–based social work encompass the environmental dimension? In res…

30 Jahre transnational vernetzte Sozialarbeitsforschung zu Gemeinwesenarbeit, sozialer Ökonomie und ökosozialen Themen

Seit einigen Jahren ist das Interesse am Thema soziale und solidarische Ökonomie im Zuge einer sich beschleunigenden Debatte über die Bedeutung der sozial-ökologischen Transformation und Nachhaltigkeit im deutschsprachigen Diskurs der Sozialen Arbeit deutlich gestiegen. Die Ursprünge reichen tatsächlich bis in die 1970er Jahre zurück, als unter den Stichworten Selbsthilfebewegung oder alternative Sozialarbeit erste Versuche einer Verbindung sozialer und ökologischer Zielsetzungen unternommen wurde. Der Beitrag verbindet eine historische Kurzanalyse mit einer Darstellung der beruflich-persönlichen Kooperationen und Begegnungen zwischen Susanne Elsen und den Autor*innen. In der Kurzanalyse st…

Ecosocial work and services for unemployed people: the challenge to integrate environmental and social sustainability

Sustainability in the context of labour market and unemployment policies is usually understood as mere cost-efficiency. The environmental and social dimensions of sustainability are missing. This article discusses the meaning of sustainability in this field of policy and practice in a medium-size city in Finland. It focuses on services for unemployed people and the role of social work. The paper aims to contribute to the knowledge base on sustainable welfare in a Nordic context and on ecosocial work in Finland. It is structured by two main questions. 1) How is ‘sustainability’ perceived and interpreted in the context of services for unemployed people? 2) What potential for eco-social polici…

Reflecting on Work Values with Young Unemployed Adults in Finland

In this article, we explore the internal conversations about the work values of young unemployed adults in Finland. We draw on the theoretical concept of internal conversation by Margaret Archer in order to shift the focus from the individual work values to the interplay between subjective concerns and structural circumstances. The data consist of six group interviews conducted among 29 young unemployed adults. We argue that the internal conversations on work values of young unemployed adults constitute five significant concerns: self-realization and opportunity to contribute to society; sufficient income to live independently; social expectations; challenges of finding employment; and unsu…

Ecosocial innovations enabling social work to promote new forms of sustainable economy

Social work research and practice that address environmental sustainability have already become prominent. However, a change in unsustainable economic structures is also urgently needed. This study explored emerging opportunities in theory and practice for a sustainable economy that are relevant to the aims of social work. As practical examples, our study concerns ‘ecosocial innovations’, i.e., social innovations that combine ecological and social goals. We analysed how these grassroots innovations in the field of social work reflect crucial shared conceptions of alternative economies. The qualitative data set comprised of 50 ecosocial innovations and six case studies in five European count…