217 research outputs found
Research Handbook on Public Sociology
No full textEngaging with the key debates and issues in a continuously evolving field, Lavinia Bifulco and Vando Borghi bring together contributions from leading social scientists to debate the enduring relevance of public sociology in light of ongoing changes in the social world.
This incisive Research Handbook explores the critical authors, texts, and research perspectives foundational to the discipline of public sociology. Multidisciplinary in approach, it advances dialogues between diverse scientific and environmental perspectives and considers how best to design and conduct research in different scientific fields. Chapters discuss current teaching and critical thought within the discipline, identify promising analytical approaches through which to research key aspects of social transformation, and investigate the relationship between sociology and its various publics. Rather than reproducing an already-fixed analytical programme, the Research Handbook explores the potential of public sociology to collaborate and hybridise with novel research paths.
Pushing the frontiers of public sociology, this insightful Research Handbook will prove an engaging and invaluable resource for social scientists and sociological communities, as well as for students in the social sciences. Its exploration of the applications of public sociology in empirical research and teaching will further benefit professionals working within public organisations
Lavinia Bifulco . 2017 . Social Policy and Public Action
No full textLa obra de Lavinia Bifulco, Social Policy and Public Action (Política Social y Acción Pública), lleva a todo aquel interesado en el campo del policy analysis a cuestionarse qué hay de social en las políticas sociales. A lo largo del libro, esta búsqueda de lo social implica el desarrollo de argumentos alrededor de categorías y dimensiones, así como en torno a elementos que forman parte del esquema analítico, el cual constituye la contribución de la autora para esta edición
Local Welfare Governance and Social Innovation. The Ambivalence of the Political Dimension
No full textCon la sociologia pubblica: ragioni e prospettive di una proposta
No full textIn recent years, interest in the perspective of public sociolog y has grown in Italy, alongside a renewed focus on the relationship between sociolog y and the public sphere. Michael Burawoy’s well-known proposal has become, from this point of view, a source of inspiration for a variety of approaches and practices. Following this trend, we propose to highlight the possible connections between public sociol-og y and other approaches by working with some common distinctive elements. In this sense, we favor an extensive practice of the approach rather than a strict delimi-tation, aiming to embody an effort to think “with” and “through” public sociolog y. The essay begins by revisiting some aspects of the relationship between sociolog y and the “domain of the possible,” which, according to Burawoy, is the foundation of the discipline. Subsequently, after clarifying the processual dimension of “pub-lic,” we attempt to leverage the possible convergences between public sociolog y and other approaches. These approaches focus on the relationship between social research and critique, the capacity of social actors to contribute to the latter, and the conditions of transformative possibilities that social actors and researchers can cooperate to activate
The depoliticisation of social policy through financial inclusion
No full textPurpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore two financial inclusion measures adopted within the local welfare context of the city of Milan, Italy, examining their functioning and underpinning representations. The aim is also to understand how such representations take concrete shape in the practices of local actors, and their
implications for the opportunities and constraints regarding individuals’ effective inclusion. To this end, this paper takes a wide-ranging look at the interplay between the rise of financial inclusion and the individualisation and responsibilisation models informing welfare policies, within the broader context of
financialisation processes overall.
Design/methodology/approach – This paper draws on the sociology of public action approach and provides a qualitative analysis of two case studies, a social microcredit service and a financial education programme, based on direct observation and semi-structured interviews conducted with key policy actors.
Findings – This paper sheds light on the rationale behind two financial inclusion services and illustrates how the instruments involved incorporate and tend to reproduce, individualising logics that reduce the problem of financial exclusion, and the social and economic vulnerability which underlies it, to a matter of personal
responsibility, thus fuelling depoliticising tendencies in public action. It also discusses the contradictions underlying financial inclusion instruments, showing how local actors negotiate views and strategies on the problems to be addressed.
Originality/value – The paper makes an original contribution to the field of sociology and social policy by focusing on two under-researched instruments of financial inclusion and improving understanding of the finance-welfare state nexus and of the contradictions underpinning attempts at financial inclusion of the most
vulnerable
La contrattualizzazione delle politiche sociali e il welfare locale
No full textInternational audienceThis chapter, "The Contractualization of Social Policies and Local Welfare," written by Lavinia Bifulco and Tommaso Vitale, presents a comprehensive sociological exploration of the shifts in European social policies toward contractual models, focusing on their implications for public-private relationships and the interaction between public administrations and policy recipients.Research Question:The chapter examines the transformative effects of contractualization on local welfare systems, particularly asking: How do contractual models reshape the roles and responsibilities of public administrations, private entities, and policy recipients in the provision of social services?Theoretical Framework:Grounded in the theories of marketization and governance, the study adopts a critical perspective to analyze the move from hierarchical government-based models to more decentralized and negotiated forms of governance. The conceptual foundation includes discussions on New Public Management (NPM) and the enabling state, emphasizing the transition from direct service provision to facilitation of civil society and market actors.Methodology:The analysis employs a comparative approach, integrating qualitative data from multiple European contexts, including health care, residential and domiciliary care, and social inclusion policies. This methodology highlights variations in the implementation of contractual models across national and regional frameworks.Forms of Contractualization:The chapter begins by categorizing the different contractual models in European social policies, such as market-based competition among providers and conditional social inclusion measures. It underscores the dual emphasis on empowering individual agency and fostering public-private collaborations.Regulatory Mixes:A critical analysis follows, revealing how administered competition and relational contracts blend market mechanisms with cooperative strategies. Case studies illustrate these dynamics in healthcare reforms and community care in Italy and the UK.Administrative Transformations:The discussion moves to the institutional and organizational shifts within public administrations, introducing a typology that contrasts bureaucratic, business-like, and participatory administrative models. This framework elucidates the complex reconfiguration of responsibilities and interactions among stakeholders.Italian Welfare Reform:A detailed examination of Italy’s 2000 welfare reform highlights how contractualization aims to address systemic fragmentation through vertical subsidiarity and integrated local governance. The text critiques the challenges of balancing universalism with local autonomy and inclusivity.Concluding Reflections:The chapter concludes by reflecting on the ambiguous outcomes of contractualization. While it has potential to enhance participation and adaptability, it also risks exacerbating inequalities and undermining universal access to rights-based social services.Conclusion:This analysis illuminates the multifaceted impacts of contractualization, offering critical insights into its role in reshaping European welfare systems. Despite its challenges, contractualization emerges as a key mechanism for aligning diverse stakeholder interests within local governance frameworks.Note:The chapter is written in Italian; however, an English version can be provided upon request
Research Handbook on Public Sociology
No full textEngaging with the key debates and issues in a continuously evolving field, Lavinia Bifulco and Vando Borghi bring together contributions from leading social scientists to debate the enduring relevance of public sociology in light of ongoing changes in the social world. This incisive Research Handbook explores the critical authors, texts, and research perspectives foundational to the discipline of public sociology. Multidisciplinary in approach, it advances dialogues between diverse scientific and environmental perspectives and considers how best to design and conduct research in different scientific fields. Chapters discuss current teaching and critical thought within the discipline, identify promising analytical approaches through which to research key aspects of social transformation, and investigate the relationship between sociology and its various publics. Rather than reproducing an already-fixed analytical programme, the Research Handbook explores the potential of public sociology to collaborate and hybridise with novel research paths. Pushing the frontiers of public sociology, this insightful Research Handbook will prove an engaging and invaluable resource for social scientists and sociological communities, as well as for students in the social sciences. Its exploration of the applications of public sociology in empirical research and teaching will further benefit professionals working within public organisations
Lavinia, the Unacknowledged Co-Author of Titus Andronicus
No full textThe continuing debate over the potentially collaborative status of Titus Andronicus is symptomatic of Shakespeare’s exploration of collaboration within the play through the character of Lavinia. He creates a Rome in which multiple narratives about purity, rape and sacrifice circulate. It is not the pure ideal society that Titus imagines, but a hybrid. Lavinia’s rape results from conflict between the many tales striving to inscribe her, prominently those of Philomela and Lucrece, and her violation enables her to recognize them. Becoming aware of her own composite nature and the hybridity of the state, Lavinia rejects the strategy of reading employed around and used on her. Rather than inserting herself into one tale and attempting to repeat it, reiterating Roman glory or sacrificing herself in order to restore it, Lavinia’s awareness of the many circulating stories enables her to manipulate them.
Lavinia becomes the play’s figure for collaboration and the co-author of her own story, asserting her place as an “impure” hybrid in Rome. Her collaborative skills uniquely fit Lavinia to help her contemporaries survive in the state they are coming to realize is not, and never was, an unadulterated haven from confusion. In claiming a place for herself in society, Lavinia risks being drawn back into the dominant narratives of purity and sacrifice, a danger that comes to fruition in her murder. Unsuccessful for herself, Lavinia leaves her story in circulation, an assertion of the hybridity that neither her surviving family nor the society as a whole can ignore
Urban governance and social innovation in the 'post-welfare city' facing Covid-19; a comparison between Napoli and Milano
No full textThe paper analyze the forms of mobilization and mutualism that have developed in response to the social emergency of the pandemic in Naples and Milan
Foundational economy and healthcare services : what the Covid-19 emergency tells us
No full textThis paper introduces the FSE special session 'Healthcare, Covid-19 and the Foundational Economy', which uses the Foundational Economy (FE) approach to analyze the public health crisis determined by Covid-19. First, the paper briefly presents the FE approach, which consists of two macro-areas. The former, identified as a 'material' foundational economy, comprises the supply of basic goods and services (Le. water, electricity, gas, food or banking). The latter, defined as a 'providential' foundational economy, comprises services traditionally covered by welfare policies and indispensable to our lives, including healthcare. Subsequently, the introduction illustrates the contributions of the special session, which includes articles on France, Italy, Spain, the US as well as a comparative analysis of the Covid-19 impact in Europe. In presenting these papers, the introduction shows how the FE concepts and methodological tools are relevant and extremely useful to analyze the public health pandemic crisis and its causes
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