1,721,027 research outputs found

    Investire e innovare in un welfare state debole: l’esperienza dei vecchi e dei nuovi operatori sociali

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    In the aftermath of neoliberal reforms and the emergence of the activation paradigm, welfare states’ recalibration based on the social investment and social innovation strategies, influences not only the definition and management of social risks, but also those who are expected to implement and administer reforms. This article explores the perceptions and experiences of traditional social work professionals and emerging social policy workers in a context of weak welfare policies. A qualitative study of three policy areas in the region of Veneto highlights the specific declination of social investment and social innovation in this context and shows the tensions emerging among social policy workers

    Street-level netocracy: rules, discretion and professionalism in a network-based intervention

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    Purpose: The paper aims to analyse the meaning and extension of discretionary power of social service professionals within network-based interventions. Design/methodology/approach: Empirically, the paper is based on a case study of a network-based policy involving private and public organisations in the Northeast of Italy (Province of Trento). Findings: The paper identifies netocracy as a social policy logic distinct from bureaucracy and professionalism. What legitimises netocracy is neither authority nor expertise but cooperation, the activation of connections and involvement, considered "good" per se. In this framework, professionalism and discretion acquire new and problematic meanings compared to street-level bureaucracy processes. Research limitations/implications: Based on a case study, the research results cannot be generalised but pave the way to further comparative investigations. Practical implications: The paper reveals that the position of professionals in netocracy is to some extent trickier than that in a bureaucracy because netocracy seems to have the power to encapsulate them and make it less likely for them to deviate from expected courses of action. Originality/value: Combining different literature streams - street level bureaucracy, professionalism, network organisations and welfare governance - and building on an original case study, the paper contribute to understanding professionalism in welfare contexts increasingly characterised by the combination of bureaucratic, professional and network logics

    Nota introduttiva alla sezione monografica "Innovazione sociale e welfare territoriale: contesti, processi, esiti"

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    Introduzione al numero speciale della rivista dedicato allo studio del rapporto tra innovazione sociale e i suoi contesti di implementazion

    Rescaling Social Welfare Policies in Italy. National report

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    Downloadable at: http://www.euro.centre.org/rescalingDocuments/files/Italy.pd

    Italy, SHSGI Country Studies.

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    DG Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunitie

    Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis

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    The present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
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