Social assistance dynamics in Europe. National and local poverty regimes

Book abstract:

The social assistance industry is concerned with self-preservation and growth, dependent upon the continuation of poverty and indeed threatened by the alleviation of poverty. Social exclusion may be for some the income stream by which they remain socially included. That view would be a cynical consequence of reading this work which is a serious study of welfare state regimes and welfare recipients in contemporary Europe by poverty experts on poverty policies from different European countries. It represents a unique insight by way of focus on the actual working of poverty policies, the players, the cultural background and implementation. The countries covered are Sweden, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Portugal. The empirical evidence illustrates the cross-country and within-country differences and similarities which arise from social assistance programmes having contrasting features. These differences are the object of the investigation which explores how national and local systems 'construct' and select social assistance recipients and how the systems impact upon individual life courses. It offers the thesis that social assistance policies and the construction of the poor or socially excluded as social categories are as much a part of the process by which individuals and groups become poor or socially excluded, and/or exit from poverty and social exclusion, as labour market processes or family processes. The work will interest academics and students of welfare and poverty, policy makers and social policy evaluators in the public, private and non-profit sectors. Chiara Saraceno is Professor of Sociology at the University of Torino, Italy and has been the chair of the Commission on Poverty and Social Exclusion in Italy.