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Article
Publication date: 5 July 2013

Jean‐Michel Bonvin, Maël Dif‐Pradalier and Eric Moachon

The purpose of this paper is to examine to what extent and under which conditions restructuring processes allow workers to effectively voice their concerns, with a view to…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine to what extent and under which conditions restructuring processes allow workers to effectively voice their concerns, with a view to influencing the restructuring logic and transforming its outcomes.

Design/methodology/approach

In‐depth case studies with semi‐structured interviews, documentary analysis and a survey, all conducted at firm‐level (taking also into account the impact of the European Workers’ Council when relevant).

Findings

Both settings (be it the Swiss flexible labour law and collective labour agreements or the protective professional status enjoyed by the French workers) do not guarantee the enhancement of workers’ capability set in restructuring processes. Whatever the entitlements and the cognitive and political resources available to the workers, two conditions are crucial to enhancing their capability for work and for voice: workers’ ability to re‐build collectives; and an adequate regulatory framework imposing on employers and shareholders the duty to negotiate.

Originality/value

The paper suggests another way of assessing restructuring processes and outcomes based on the capability approach, and demonstrates its greater relevance compared to economic or managerialist views of restructuring, based on efficiency and profitability.

Details

International Journal of Manpower, vol. 34 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-7720

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Article
Publication date: 11 September 2007

Jean‐Michel Bonvin and Eric Moachon

This article's purpose is to analyse the current transformations of public action in two main respects: on the one side the relationships between individuals and institutions and…

785

Abstract

Purpose

This article's purpose is to analyse the current transformations of public action in two main respects: on the one side the relationships between individuals and institutions and their recent evolutions, on the other, the new contractual or market‐like ways of designing and implementing public action. This twofold transformation and the extent to which it represents a deep‐seated revolution or a more limited recalibration of the public realm are to be investigated against the case of Swiss active labour market policies.

Design/methodology/approach

This issue is examined through the design of a theoretical and normative typology, which is then applied to the case of active labour market policies in Switzerland, based on an in‐depth empirical investigation (more than 50 interviews with field actors).

Findings

The emergence of new modes of governance coincides with the promotion of market solutions to unemployment, thus leading to a conception of welfare and its individual beneficiaries as subordinate to labour market requirements.

Research limitations/implications

The empirical part of this paper focuses on one specific case, the Swiss ALMPs. Further research is needed for a more general assessment of the issue.

Originality/value

One key element of the approach is the link made between substantial and procedural issues related to recent evolutions in the field of social integration policies. In the authors' view substantial and organisational aspects of the political process should be studied jointly.

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 27 no. 9/10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Keywords

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Article
Publication date: 11 September 2007

Vando Borghi and Rik van Berkel

The first part of the paper aimed to interpret the changes addressed by the concepts of governance and activation in their context, in order to grasp the larger picture of the…

918

Abstract

Purpose

The first part of the paper aimed to interpret the changes addressed by the concepts of governance and activation in their context, in order to grasp the larger picture of the societal transformation underlying them: the starting point is the assumption that new modes of governance in activation policies are a fruitful entry point for effectively understanding deep waves of change of contemporary society. The second part aims to briefly introduce the papers included in this issue.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper insists on a perspective according to which there are two main dimension characterising the context of addressed transformations: the paradoxical torsion of the historical process of individualisation in the new spirit of capitalism; the profound redesign of the institutional programme, implying a new horizon for the instances of publicness.

Findings

Different and contradictory trends are pointed out in the actual pursuing of objectives of governance and activation, as far as the process of individualisation and the redesign of publicness are concerned. The impossibility of finding an abstract and universal evaluation of these transformations and the necessity of situated empirical inquiries are stressed.

Originality/value

The paper demonstrates the relevance of deepening the normative underlying dimensions (with regard to individualisation and publicness) of social processes for a better understanding of concrete transformations (specifically: operational and substantive changes introduced by new modes of governance in activation policies).

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 27 no. 9/10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Keywords

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