Search results for "welfare State"
showing 10 items of 110 documents
Comparing Post War Japanese and Finnish Economies and Societies
2014
Part 1: Introduction 1. Comparing Japanese and Finnish Economies and Societies - Longitudinal Perspectives, Jari Ojala, Yasushi Tanaka, Toshiaki Tamaki, and Jari Eloranta 2. Longitudinal Comparative Historical Analysis: Challenges and Possibilities, Pavel Osinsky and Jari Eloranta Part 2: Welfare Societies 3. Two Paths to Building a Welfare Society: The Development of Work and Family-related Policies in Post-War Finland and Japan, Maare Paloheimo, Kota Sugahara, Tadashi Fukui, and Merja Uotila 4.Higher Education Systems and Labour Market Outcomes in Japan and Finland, 1950 - 2010, Anu Ojala, Yasushi Tanaka and Olli Turunen 5. Military Spending in Japan and Finland: From Warfare to Welfare S…
The Role of Geographic Technologies in the Measure of Spatial Equity. Twenty-First Century Solutions for Old Geographical Issues
2019
In Western societies, the development of the Welfare State has been accompanied by the proposal of different models of spatial organisation that help to improve spatial equity, this being a priority object of all public policy because it clearly contributes to the achievement of a greater social cohesion. Geography has contributed, from Christaller to the present, to propose territorial models that help to optimise the location of activities and services, using spatial statistics and digital cartography. At present, the study of spatial equity is again receiving the attention of the academy, in particular as regards the provision of public services and facilities in urban and metropolitan a…
Hunger and Food Charity in Rich Societies: What Hope for the Right to Food?
2014
First World Hunger: Food Security and Welfare Politics (Riches, 1997a) offered the first cross-national study of the emergence and entrenchment of food aid and charitable food banking from the early 1980s to the mid-1990s. It consists of five case studies from advanced industrial countries with developed ‘liberal’ welfare states: Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the USA. All of the countries were food exporters and food secure through national production and imports, suggesting that domestic hunger could not be caused by the failure to provide sufficient food and nutrition, but rather was a matter of distributional justice and human rights — that is a fundamentally political issue.
Social Movements, Voluntary Associations and Cycles of Protest in Finland 1905-91
1992
During the 20th century five cycles of protest have emerged in Finland: 1905-18, 1928-32, 1944-48, 1966-76, and the continuing cycle of new social movements beginning around the end of the 1970s. This article begins with an examination of the differences and similarities in the formation of these cycles against the background of antecedent political opportunity structures. The question of the relationship between social protest movements and formal voluntary associations is then addressed. It is shown that social movements and formal voluntary associations have been interactive, mutually reinforcing ways of reacting to different manifestations of social crisis. Existing formal associations …
The Economics of Freedom. Theory, Measure and Policy Implications
2012
What is freedom? Can we measure it? Does it affect policy? This book develops an original measure of freedom called 'Autonomy Freedom', consistent with J. S. Mill's view of autonomy, and applies it to issues in policy and political design. The work pursues three aims. First, it extends classical liberalism beyond exclusive reliance on negative freedom so as to take autonomous behavior explicitly into account. Second, it grounds on firm conceptual foundations a new standard in the measurement of freedom that can be fruitfully coupled with existing gauges. Third, it shows empirically that individual preferences for redistribution and cross-country differences in welfare spending in Organisati…
Squaring the welfare circle and government ideology: Greece and Spain in the 1990s
1999
This article examines the “squaring the welfare circle” thesis and its usefulness to our understanding of welfare developments in Greece and Spain in the 1990s. The welfare state in both Greece and Spain was expanded considerably in the early 1980s by the newly elected socialist governments, only to hit the buffers of diminishing resources and rising demands in the late 1980s as well as the hostile neo-liberal welfare ideology. The process of welfare expansion was halted in the 1990s, labour market deregulation was encouraged and containment of welfare expenditure became the dominant aim of government policies. This article concentrates on the actual policies of governments in the 1990s rat…
Combining labour market and unemployment policies with environmental sustainability? A cross-national study on ecosocial innovations
2020
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: …
Choice models in nordic long-term care : care managers' experiences of privilege and disadvantage among older adults
2022
AbstractConsumer choice models have been introduced in eldercare services in several Western welfare societies. Choice models in eldercare emphasise the importance of individuals’ abilities to make informed choices and therefore entail a risk for increased inequalities among older adults with care needs. In the Nordic countries, such inequality risks are in stark contrast to universal policy ambitions of equal access to care services. Care managers, who are responsible for needs assessment for eldercare services, have a central role in implementing policies and, thus, have first-hand experience of their impact on older adults’ access to care. The aim of this study was to explore care manage…
Is there a need for a new cultural policy strategy in the Nordic welfare state?
1996
Cultural policies have existed as a structural element of the Nordic welfare states from the very beginning. Today these policies are being re‐evaluated, and there are some indications that they may be gradually dismantled. Local cultural politicians in municipalities (cultural boards) and professionals (e.g. cultural secretaries) have become uncertain and anxious about their future role and legitimacy. This new situation is addressed and analysed by using the ideas of Goffman's on‐and off‐stage representations, and Foucault's governmentality. Important background factors in the development of cultural policies both in the past, present and future are identified and used to explain the pres…
Research-Based Social Work Profession in the Finnish Welfare State
2021
This chapter examines the Finnish model of social work education from the perspective of the European system of higher education. The analysis is framed by the fast development of the social-democratic welfare state. Formalised social worker education started in 1942 as a two-year bachelor’s degree that was vocationally oriented with the purpose of providing municipalities a sufficient labour force. From the 1970s onwards, social work education started its process of academisation, and in 1994 social work became its own scientific discipline. Currently, Finnish social work education places strong emphasis on research and research-based understanding of social work. Social work education is …