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International Conference

Open University

University of Southampton

University of Bielefeld

TABLEOFCONTENTS

Table of Contents

Programme Rundown ................................................................................................................ 1

Conference Concept Note .......................................................................................................... 7

Keynote Speakers ........................................................................................................................ 9

Keynote Speeches ....................................................................................................................... 11

KEYNOTE 1 ........................................................................................................................... 11

KEYNOTE 2 ........................................................................................................................... 12

KEYNOTE 3 ........................................................................................................................... 13

Abstract ..................................................................................................................................... 15

PANEL 1: Social Policy Actors in Global Context ................................................................. 15

PANEL 2: Comparing Social Policies in the Context of Transnational Social Policy Paradigms ................................................................................................................................ 19

PANEL 3: Conceptualising Social Policy in a Global Context .............................................. 23

PANEL 4: Connecting Comparative and Global Social Policy Analysis ............................... 28

PANEL 5: Comparing Social Policies in the Context of Transnational Social Policy Paradigms ................................................................................................................................ 32

Campus Map of Lingnan University ....................................................................................... 37

Notes ........................................................................................................................................... 39

PROGRAMMERUNDOWN

1LingnanUniversity┃“Doing”ComparativeSocialPolicyAnalysisinChangingGlobalContext

ProgrammeRundown

“Doing” Comparative Social Policy Analysis in Changing Global Context

DAY 1 8 December 2017 (Friday)

8:45 am – 6:00 pm Hosted by Department of Sociology and Social Policy

Lingnan University

Time Activity Venue

8:45 am – 9:15 am Registration

9:15 am – 9:30 am

Official Address Leonard Cheng, President, Lingnan University, Hong Kong Kin Wai Wong, Hong Kong Council of Social Service, Hong Kong Group Photo

9:30 am – 10:30 am Keynote 1 Co-producing Social Policy in Changing Global Contexts: Challenges and Opportunities for Social Policy Analysis Nicola Yeates, The Open University, United Kingdom Chair: David R. Phillips, Lingnan University, Hong Kong

Paul S Lam Conference Centre, 3/F Amenities Building

10:30 am – 10:45 am Coffee Break

10:45 am – 12:15 pm Panel 1: Social Policy Actors in Global Context (Chair: Raymond Kwok Hong Chan, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong) � Who is Who in Global Social Policy? International

Organizations as Producer of Education Ideas Kerstin Martens, University of Bremen, Germany

� Practicing Global Social Policy: The Case of Argentine Network for International Cooperation (RACI) Tuba Agartan, Providence College, United States Guillermo Corea, RACI, Argentina

� Promoting Well-Being Through Social Services:


PROGRAMMERUNDOWN


Hong Kong’s NGO’s Exeperiences in China Ka Ho Mok, Lingnan University, Hong Kong

� Political Viability of Conditional Cash Transfers - Justification of CCTs in the Chilean Parliament Lauri Heimo, University of Tampere, Finland

12:15 pm – 1:30 am Lunch

2:15 pm – 3:45 pm Panel 2: Comparing Social Policies in the Context of Transnational Social Policy Paradigms (Chair: Alex Jingwei He, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong) � Health Insurance “Universalization” and Global

Social Policy: Evidence from Indonesia, Thailand, and Philippines Mulyadi Sumarto, Gadjah Mada University, Indonesia

� Using Regulatory Theory to Stay In and Move Beyond the National Welfare State Gaby Ramia, University of Sydney, Australia

� Shifting Policy Responses Amongst Transnational Actors to Endemic Youth Unemployment Ross Fergusson, The Open University, United Kingdom

• Health Literacy and Health: Rethinking the Strategies for Universal Health Coverage in Ghana Padmore A. Amoah, Lingnan University, Hong Kong David R Phillips, Lingnan University, Hong Kong


3:45 pm – 4:00 pm Coffee Break

4:00 pm – 5:00 pm Keynote 2: Sponsored by the Asia-Pacific Institute of Ageing Studies, Lingnan University, Hong Kong Different Societies, Same Solutions? A Critical Reflection on ‘Ageing as a Burden’ in China and the European Union Traute Meyer, University of Southampton, United Kingdom Chair: Maggie Lau, Lingnan University, Hong Kong


PROGRAMMERUNDOWN


“Doing” Comparative Social Policy Analysis in Changing Global Context

DAY 2 9 December 2017 (Saturday)

8:45 am – 6:15 pm Hosted by Department of Sociology and Social Policy

Lingnan University

6:00 pm – 8:00 pm Conference Dinner Lingnan House (Chinese Restaurant), 1/F, Lingnan University Amenities Building, Tuen Mun

Time Activity Venue

8:45 am – 9:00 am Registration

9:00 am – 9:15 am

Official Opening Hong Kong Sociological Association Annual Conferences Leonard Cheng, President, Lingnan University, Hong Kong Roman David, Head, Department of Sociology and Social Policy, Lingnan University, Hong Kong Prof. Annie Chan, President, Hong Kong Sociological Association

MBG06, G/F Patrick Lee Wan Keung Academic Building

9:20 am – 11:00 am Keynote 3: Joint Session With Hong Kong Sociological Association Annual Conference � Clashing Gender: Vocational Education and the

Making of the Young Working Class Pun Ngai, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

� Facets of Global Social Policy Alexandra Kaasch, University of Bielefeld, Germany

MBG06, G/F Patrick Lee Wan Keung Academic Building

11:00 am – 11:15 am Coffee Break

11:15 am – 1:15 pm Panel 3: Conceptualising Social Policy in a Global Context (Chair: Kerstin Martens, University of Bremen, Germany)

Paul S Lam Conference Centre, 3/F

PROGRAMMERUNDOWN


� International Policyscapes: Rethinking Social Policy Challenges for an Increasingly Complex World Markus Ketola, Ulster University, Northern Ireland

� Values, Welfare States and Social Policy in NECs: Can We Start Connecting the Dots Now? Joe Devine, University of Bath, United Kingdom Keerty Nakray, Jindal Global Law School, India

� Towards a Gendered Welfare State Typology: A Comparative Analysis of Selected OECD and East Asian Welfare States Antonios Roumpakis, University of York, United Kingdom Xinide, University of York, United Kingdom

� Selective Multiculturalism and the East Asian Global City Context: The Case of Hong Kong Narine N. Kerelian, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Gizem Arat, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Lucy P. Jordan, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Jocelyn Lang, Independent Consultant, Singapore

• Is There a Common Path that Could Have Conditioned the Degree of Welfare State Development in Latin America and the Caribbean? Gibran A. Cruz-Martinez, University of Agder, Norway

Amenities Building

1:15 pm – 2:15 pm Lunch

2:15 pm – 3:45 pm Panel 4: Connecting Comparative and Global Social Policy Analysis (Chair: Gaby Ramia, University of Sydney, Australia) � A Global Discourse in the Making: Revisiting the

Productivism, Inequality and Economic Growth Nexus in Greater China and East Asia Stefan Kühner, Lingnan University, Hong Kong Nan Yang, University of York, United Kingdom

� Emerging Cumulative Effects of ‘Big-slow Moving’ Globalization on Health System: Process Tracing of


PROGRAMMERUNDOWN


Health Politics in South Korea Young Jun Choi, Yonsei University, Republic of Korea

� Multidimensional Social Support and Health Services Use in LAMICs: Insights from Community-dwelling Older Ghanaian Adults Razak Mohammed Gyasi, Lingnan University, Hong Kong David R. Phillips, Lingnan University, Hong Kong Padmore A. Amoah, Lingnan University, Hong Kong

� The Role of International Institutions in Shaping the Post-communist Welfare State Gentian Qeivana, Zhejiang University, China

3:45 pm – 4:00 pm Coffee Break

4:00 pm – 5:45 pm Panel 5: Comparing Social Policies in the Context of Transnational Social Policy Paradigms (Chair: Stefan Kühner, Lingnan University, Hong Kong) � Social Protection and the Rise of Social Assistance

Programmes in Developing Countries: A View from the MENA Region Rana Jawad, University of Bath, United Kingdom (via Skype Link)

� The Political Origins of Conditional Cash Transfers in Latin America Ricardo Velázquez Leyer, Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico

� Citizens' Role in the Design of Social Protection and Social Transfer Programmes in Developing Countries Gbenga Akinlolu Shadare, University of Sheffield, United Kingdom

� Asset Development Through Savings and Multi-dimensional Poverty Julia Shu-Huah Wang, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Fred M. Ssewamala, Washington University in St. Louis, United States Bilal Malaeb, University of Oxford and University of


PROGRAMMERUNDOWN


Southampton, United Kingdom

5:45 pm – 6:15 pm Concluding Discussion Where Next for Comparative and Global Social Policy Analysis? Stefan Kühner, Lingnan University, Hong Kong Alexandra Kaasch, University of Bielefeld, Germany


CONFERENCECONCEPTNOTE


The question whether welfare states can be classified into distinct types has remained subject to lively debates: in East Asia, the recent implementation of social rights-based public policy innovations – including working family support – as a response to rising inequalities, welfare expectations and accelerating social change has been well documented; similarly, South East Asian and South Asian economies have featured much more frequently in comparative social policy analysis as policy makers have sought to address persisting chronic poverty, a diminishing demographic dividend and burdensome epidemiological transitions via integrating human capital formation with social protection (Mok and Kühner, 2017); in post-2008-crisis Europe, difficult questions have arisen about the comparative efficiency of EU welfare states and their commitment to “burden sharing” in the context of the Open Method of Co-ordination (Vandenbrouke, 2016); in Latin America, the introduction of cash transfers, non-contributory pensions and health insurance has led to reductions of poverty and inequality, yet challenges in regards to services quality (particularly education), intergenerational justice and persisting barriers to increasing social security coverage have largely persisted (Levy and Schady, 2013); finally, adding to the above issues, governments in the MENA region and Sub-Saharan Africa have sought effective policy responses for families effected by HIV/AIDS, climate change, political unrest and even armed conflict, respectively (Yi, 2015; Jawad, 2015).

Far from a unifying convergence of these social policy trends in the post-MDG era, a more global perspective suggests continued variation and difference, with a multiplicity of forms of globalisations encountered and/or engendered in diverse contexts. In Latin America and the European Union where international integration has a long-historical track record, welfare regimes have developed in a context of a high level of economic integration and transnational actors have been active in reshaping national social policy for many decades. Similarly, in the Asian, MENA and Sub-Saharan context, varied regional (and sub-regional) divisions of labour are the result of different and unequal transactions with extra- and intra-regional centres of production and finance. Diverse international actors, which do not offer a single model for social development, have been involved in the formation of social policy. The recent histories of social and political activism of new generations of social movements and civil society organisations demonstrate how, in South East Asia and across Latin America and Southern Africa, they have organised to shape the course of national social policy by providing strong resistance to trade liberalisation and privatisation. National and transnational forces ‘co-produce’ social policy and we see how states and national economies are increasingly interlinked and structurally interconnected with one another in dense networks of regional and extra-regional global economic and political relations (Yeates, 2017). These findings, in turn, address major issues of our time, for they speak to the broader question of what analytical bases and research strategies can best reveal the complexities of (and interactions between) national, extra-national and transnational drivers of welfare formation and development under contemporary but diverse conditions (Mok et al, 2017).

CONFERENCECONCEPTNOTE


It is against this background of the fusion of global, regional and national institutions, dynamics and outcomes, that this international conference is situated. It will combine papers:

(a) understanding national social policies in a global context (such as national case studies related to the impact of globalisation on social policies; national reforms related to EU accession processes; or World Bank influenced social policy schemes),

(b) comparing national social policies in a global/multi-level context (such as historical case study analyses discussing issues of diffusion and other mutual influences and the methodological challenges this creates in assuming they present independent reform processes; or large-N studies that take into account supranational social policy settings and requirements);

(c) exploring global ideas and discourses on national social policy (such as studies on the ADB, World Bank, WHO and their approaches to good social policies; or national case studies comparing the impacts of global idea(l)s promoted by relevant international actors).

The conference is also interested – more generally – in comparative studies that analyse social policy development via developing analytical frameworks that reach across individual world-regions and global actors; via bridging between purely academic research and research developed in and by international (research-based) organisations; and via providing policy makers across the globe with good practice examples in dealing with shared global challenges.

References: Jawad, R. (2015). Social protection and social policy systems in the MENA region: emerging trends. UNDESA, http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/csocd/2016/RJawad-MENA.pdf. Levy, S., & Schady, N. (2013). Latin America's social policy challenge: education, social insurance, redistribution. The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 27(2), 193-218. Mok, K. H., Kühner, S. and Yeates, N. (2017) Managing Welfare Expectations and Social Change: Policy Responses in Asia, Social Policy & Administration. Forthcoming. Mok. K. H. and Kühner, S. (2017) Managing welfare expectations and social change: policy transfer in Asia, Journal of Asian Public Policy, 10(1), 1-7. Vandenbroucke, F. (2016). Comparative social policy analysis in the EU at the brink of a new era. Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice, 1-13, http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13876988.2016.1168618. Yeates, N. (2017) Global approaches to social policy: a survey of analytical methods. UNRISD Thematic Paper, Geneva: UNRISD. Forthcoming. Yi, I. (2015). New challenges for and new directions in social policy. New York: United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD), http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/csocd/2016/new-directions-socialpolicy-CY.pdf.

KEYNOTESPEAKERS


Professor Nicola Yeates

Professor of Social Policy, Department of Social Policy and Criminology The Open University, United Kingdom [email protected]

Professor Nicola Yeates gained her PhD from Bristol University in the United Kingdom under the supervision of Prof. Peter Townsend. She is now employed as Professor of Social policy in the Department of Social Policy and Criminology at the The Open University, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom. Her research interest centres on transnationalisation and globalisation as social processes and their effect on social policy as a political practice of state and non-state actors. Prof. Yeates is the author of Globalization & Social Policy (Sage, 2001) and co-editor of The Global Social Policy Reader (Policy Press, 2009). She gained recent research grants by the ESRC-Department for International Development Joint Fund and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to examine regionalism and poverty reduction in Africa and South America and the global responses and emerging issues for health migration, respectively. Prof. Yeates is a fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Chair of the Editorial Board of Social Policy and Society (Cambridge University Press). She was the first ever international Relations Officer of the UK Social Policy Association and instrumental in its early efforts to open-up to other parts in the world.

Professor Traute Meyer

Professor of Social Policy, Division of Sociology, Social Policy and Criminology University of Southampton, United Kingdom [email protected]

Professor Traute Meyer was awarded her PhD from the Free University of Berlin, Germany. She is now employed as Professor of Social Policy and Director of the Postgraduate Teaching Programmes within Social Sciences: Sociology, Social Policy & Criminology at the University of Southampton, United Kingdom. Her research contributes to comparative welfare state research with particular focus on the role of private agents as social policy players in European pension regimes. Prof. Meyer has published extensively in leading international journals including Ageing & Society, Journal of Social Policy and Journal of Ageing and Later Life. Her edited book Private Pensions Versus Social Inclusion? Non-state arrangements for citizens at risk in Europe was published with Edward Elgar (2007) and she contributed numerous chapters to books including the Handbook of European Social Policy (Edward Elgar, 2017) and The Varieties of Pension Governance: Pension Privatization in Europe (OUP, 2011) since. Prof. Meyer is the co-editor of the Journal of European Social Policy and a board member of the Network for European Social Policy Analysis.

KEYNOTESPEAKERS


Professor Pun Ngai

Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong [email protected]

Pun Ngai received her PhD from University of London, SOAS in 1998. She is the winner of 2006 C. Wright Mills Award for her book, “Made in China: Women Factory Workers in a Global Workplace” (Duke University Press, 2005). Made in China is widely used as required reading in major universities in America, Europe and Asia. Together with Dying for Apple: Foxconn and Chinese Workers (co-authored with Jenny Chan and Mark Selden, 2016), these two texts have been translated into German, French, Italian, Spanish, Polish and Chinese. Two of her Chinese books were also awarded Hong Kong Book Prize 2007 and 2011 as the top ten popular book, widely read in Hong Kong and Mainland China. She published extensively and cross- disciplinary in journals in the areas of sociology, anthropology, labor Studies, China Studies and cultural Studies. Her articles appeared in Current Sociology, Global Labor Studies, Work, Employment and Society, The China Quarterly, Modern China, and The China Journal, Positions, Public Culture and Cultural Anthropology.

Professor Alexandra Kaasch

Junior Professor of Social Policy, Faculty of Sociology University of Bielefeld, Germany [email protected]

Professor Alexandra Kaasch gained her PhD from the University of Sheffield, United Kingdom. She is now employed as Junior Professor in Transnational Social Policy in the Faculty of Sociology at the University of Bielefeld, Germany. Prof. Kaasch research interest centres on comparative and global social policy research. She was collaborating researcher with UNRISD’s New Directions in Social Policy project and is the author of numerous books including Shaping Global Health Policy. Global Social Policy Actors and Ideas about Health Care Systems (Palgrave, 2015) and Actors and Agency in Global Social Governance (OUP, 2015). Prof. Kaasch is the current Secretary of the International Sociological Association Research Committee 19 (“Sociology of Poverty, Social Welfare and Social Policy”), co-editor of Global Social Policy and editor of the Global Social Policy Digest. She is also co-editor of the new book series Research in Comparative and Global Social Policy (The Policy Press).

KEYNOTESPEECHES


KEYNOTE 1

Co-producing Social Policy in Changing Global Contexts: Challenges and

Opportunities for Social Policy Analysis

Nicola Yeates Professor of Social Policy, Department of Social Policy and Criminology

The Open University, United Kingdom [email protected]

The question inspiring this paper is whether social policy can be understood any longer as the outcome of socio-political forces exclusively rooted in domestic spheres of governance and playing out solely through them. There are many good reasons why this question should be raised again at this time, but first among these is the massive societal significance of the intensive and extensive relations of transnational connectivity and interdependence between populations, welfare systems and economies around the world. These transnational relations have profound effects on the social organisation and social relations of health and welfare systems in ways that raise the prospect of a transformation not only in social policies themselves but also in the analysis of social policies. These ‘new’ relations of social policy point to deep-rooted and challenging analytical and methodological issues in the analysis of social and public policies, such as: the continued relevance of received knowledge about the nation state, sovereignty and territorial autonomy embedded in theoretical and policy models of social development; the prioritisation given to the study of single societies at the expense of comparative analyses capable of providing rich sources of data and theories for ‘developing’ and ‘developed’ worlds alike; and the ‘co-production’ of social and public policies by combinations of intersecting and interacting national and trans-national and trans-local actors, institutions and forces. Illustrating this argument through examples drawn from diverse policy worlds internationally, I emphasise the value of an engaged, productive dialogue among methodological nationalists and methodological transnationalists that is anchored in a comparative framework. Such a dialogue holds out the promise of significant conceptual, theoretical, methodological and empirical advances that are capable of generating profound insights into the sources, dynamics and consequences of contemporary social policy development and change within and between territories worldwide.

KEYNOTESPEECHES


KEYNOTE 2 - Sponsored by the Asia-Pacific Institute of Ageing Studies (APIAS), Lingnan University

Different Societies, Same Solutions? A Critical Reflection on ‘Ageing as a

Burden’ in China and the European Union

Traute Meyer Professor of Social Policy, Division of Sociology, Social Policy and Criminology

University of Southampton, United Kingdom [email protected]

Population ageing is recognised as a problem by governments around the world. In the richest countries the belief has become established that longer life expectancy and the decline of fertility rates are driving pension costs and governments have to cut benefits to control expenses. In Europe, retrenchment of public pension benefits is often seen as unavoidable. China is still far less wealthy than EU countries, but its economy has grown more than any other over recent decades. Nevertheless, Chinese policy-makers express similar concerns about societal ageing as their counterparts in the richest countries; they worry about its impact on public budgets, the cost of care and the affordability of pensions. They also consider similar solutions, among them the extension of working life before retirement. Interestingly, two otherwise very different regions of the world seem to have similar problems and prefer similar solutions. Is this true and why would this be? This paper will explore the substance of the global paradigm of "ageing societies as burden" against the Chinese and European background. Comparing population size, dependency rates, economic wealth, employment and pension systems as well as pension reform, the paper will demonstrate similarities and differences between the EU and China. It shows that very different societal processes underline pension policy in both regions. Because of these differences, cost constraining policies have been adopted in Europe, while in China, ageing has been a matter of concern, but the direction of reform has been different: pension insurance coverage of the population has expanded. Referring to modernisation theories the paper argues that public pension systems are part of the bedrock of diverse market societies, they are needed for stability. Thus, in the Chinese growing economy the main challenge has been to introduce »retirement« as an institution to the many new migrants and to build a system that can cover the population adequately. To contain costs is an adequate goal here also, but a relatively minor one. In contrast, to stabilise their societies European governments cut benefits, but substance remains; in most countries today’s pared-down pension guarantees are still projected to replace at least two-thirds of the last income for full-time workers. Conceptually, comparing regions as diverse as China and the EU highlights the relevance of macro-sociological analysis and revitalises the relevance of functionalism as analytical approach.

The paper is based on a joint study with Jin Feng (Fudan University, Shanghai), forthcoming, published by Friedrich Ebert Foundation China, http://www.fes-china.org/en/

KEYNOTESPEECHES


KEYNOTE 3 - Joint Keynote with Hong Kong Sociological Association Conference

Clashing Gender: Vocational Education and the Making of the Young Working

Class

Pun Ngai Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology

The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong [email protected]

Serious scholarship highlights that declining influence of socialist discourse of gender equity has led to the emergence of neoliberal market values and the re-emergence of traditional patriarchal values, both of which have reshaped the gender division of labour and gender inequalities. In recent years, accompanying “China Dream” and the rise of China as a global player, a new project of subject making is witnessed-- an increasing number of rural young people have entered urban vocational education system before seeking employment. As a national project attempting to invent educated, skilful labour subjects to serve new economies, vocational education is specifically geared towards entrance into the labour market, producing valuable “marketable subjects” especially for digital and service sectors. We use the concept of “clashing gender” to understand the political technology of subject in which gender plays a central and yet conflictual role, torn among forces of state, market, school and individual desire.

KEYNOTESPEECHES


KEYNOTE 3 - Joint Keynote with Hong Kong Sociological Association Conference

Facets of Global Social Policy

Alexandra Kaasch

Junior Professor of Social Policy, Faculty of Sociology University of Bielefeld, Germany

[email protected] The keynote attempts to illustrate and discuss the academic literature on global social policy, but also to comment on developments in global social policy as a political practice. On the first, the academic part, I argue that while there is still a lot to be done, the acknowledgement of transnational actors and factors have significantly gained importance in national and internationally comparative studies. Furthermore, the amount of studies trying to analyse such actors and factors has grown over the past decades. On the second, I argue that we are certainly facing a period of little explicit and direct reference to social policy as a global reformist project. However, that does not imply that there are no advances regarding particular social rights, and the recognition of vulnerable groups etc.

ABSTRACT


Abstract

PANEL 1: Social Policy Actors in a Global Context

Who is Who in Global Social Policy? International Organisations as Producer of Education Ideas

Kerstin Martens

Professor, Institute for Intercultural and International Studies University of Bremen, Germany

[email protected]

Abstract Preschool education and school education are central instruments of preventative social policy in the modern welfare state and are regarded as conditions for the perception of social rights. Additionally, state education fulfils an important function as the mediator of cultural traditions and national history. In this paper I examine International Organisations (IOs), which work in the educational sector. IOs compile and spread educational concepts and educational standards not only to their member countries but also across the globe. But which IOs are out there working in the field of education policy, and what education ideas are they propagating? The role of IOs in the diffusion of ideas is still rarely examined. Although various single studies (e.g. on UNESCO, the OECD, the World Bank etc.) exist, we know little about the universe of education IOs as a whole. How is the world of education IOs constituted? Which IOs have remained overlooked in academic research so far? And to what extent do IOs in the educational area differ in regard to their concepts? By a systematic qualitative comparison of the objectives of IOs that are active in the educational area, I examine the concepts they produce and propagate. In preparation and on the basis of the Yearbook of International Organization (YIO) as well as the Correlates of War (COW) records, every single IO was individually examined on the basis of web pages and/or constituting documents (e.g., preamble) regardless of whether they refer to the field of education policy. In total, 20 IOs were determined to be decisive active IOs in the educational sector, which will be then compared and contrasted in this paper.

ABSTRACT



Practicing Global Social Policy: The Case of Argentine Network for International Cooperation (RACI)

Tuba Agartan

Associate Professor of Health Policy and Management Department of Global Health and Population

Providence College, United States [email protected]

Guillermo Corea Argentine Network for International Cooperation, Argentina

[email protected]

Abstract This article examines the ways in which local civil society organizations (CSOs) in Argentina interact with foreign donors within the international aid and development markets. It is a case study of the Argentine Network for International Cooperation (RACI) that explores its structural positioning in the international development field and the space it has opened up for itself. Our concern is much less with assessing the impact of RACI in terms of bringing more funding opportunities to Argentine CSOs or shaping the outcomes of projects. Rather, building on global social policy studies, we are interested in tracing, through interviews and archive material, its role as a “moderator” and “translator” in the global-local nexus. RACI was established in 2004 in the wake of a massive economic and political crisis specifically to stabilize foreign funding opportunities, develop institutional capacity, and improve relations with foreign donors. Going beyond a one-directional dissemination of specific policy ideas, tools and resources from the donors in the North and international organizations to Argentine CSOs, we identify the ways in which RACI engages in a hybrid and sometimes conflicting set of activities including coordinating, translating, building trust and connecting the dots among its diverse partners. Our findings demonstrate the need to pay more attention, in our global social governance debates, to policy entrepreneurs that move across, and often combine, different levels of policymaking to articulate, advocate, translate and diffuse policy ideas and hence challenge our existing paradigms to study the power dynamics.

ABSTRACT



Promoting Well-Being Through Social Services: Hong Kong’s NGO’s Experiences in China

Ka Ho Mok

Chair Professor of Comparative Policy, Department of Sociology and Social Policy Lingnan University, Hong Kong

[email protected]

Abstract In the last decade, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) has repeatedly called for deep collaboration between Hong Kong and other cities in the Pearl River Delta. More recently, the State Council of the People’s Republic of China has announced a new strategic plan for developing the Bay economy in Southern China by putting the strengths of Hong Kong, Macau and Guangdong together. Setting out against the wider policy context, this paper critically examines how Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) assess the challenges and opportunities when launching social services in Mainland China. More specially, the paper also discusses how government officials in China evaluate the growth of NGOs originally based in Hong Kong extending their social service provision in China. Policy implications will be drawn from the study to inform the debates of policy design and policy implementation across different regions in the Pearl River Delta.

*The presentation is based upon a public policy grant funded by the Central Policy Unit, HKSAR Government.

ABSTRACT



Political Viability of Conditional Cash Transfers - Justification of CCTs in the Chilean Parliament

Lauri Heimo

PhD Researcher, School of Social Sciences and Humanities University of Tampere, Finland

[email protected]

Abstract Previous research on the diffusion of conditional cash transfers has shown that the political ideology of the governing coalition does not determine whether a country adopts the policy model as both the left and the right have implemented CCTs. However, the existing research does not show why and how CCTs appeal to politicians beyond political party ideologies. This paper sheds light on the political viability of CCTs by examining how the policy is justified in parliamentary discourse by politicians and legislators from different ends of the ideological spectrum. Chile presents a unique case for this exercise as the political left and the political right both implemented a CCT framework within a ten-year time span and did so without external funding. The data consists of parliamentary debates on the draft bills that established the Chile Solidario and Ingreso Ético Familiar programs, which are studied through a comparative discourse analysis. The analysis points to several prevalent epistemic and normative assumptions among members of both the left and right wing coalitions regarding the central components and policy rationale of conditional cash transfers. The paper shows that determining these ”points of confluence” in the justification and contestation of the program serves as a central mechanism in unravelling the some of the political appeal of CCTs.

ABSTRACT


PANEL 2: Comparing Social Policies in the Context of Transnational Social Policy Paradigms

Health Insurance “Universalization” and Global Social Policy - Evidence from

Indonesia, Thailand, and Philippines

Mulyadi Sumarto Assistant Professor, Department of Social Development and Welfare

Gadjah Mada University Yogyakarta, Indonesia [email protected]

Abstract

This paper discusses “universalization” of health insurance and the role of global social policy in the “universalization” in Southeast Asia. The paper will take the cases of Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines because these countries similarly dealt with the Asian economic crisis, which hit them in 1997. The other two reasons are Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines correspondingly introduced universal health coverage (UHC) after the economic crisis, and the UHC sizably involves global actors of social policy. The Asian economic crisis generated different economic glitches. The crisis caused Indonesian Rupiah currency to lose its value of 82 per cent against US dollar, the Thai Baht about 42 per cent, and the Philippine Peso around 34 per cent. Due to this economic adversity, all these countries undertook structural adjustment programs under the advice of the World Bank, which pressured them to distribute social safety net (SNN) for the poor. The SSN similarly covered health, education, subsidized food, and employment-creation benefits. Soon right after the crisis, Thailand began UHC in 2001. The Philippines and Indonesia needed longer times to initiate the UHC, i.e. in 2011 and 2014 respectively. All these countries similarly received technical assistances for the UHC from international agencies. The idea of this paper is based on a conceptual assumption that the economic crisis, which served as a tool to test the endurance of local welfare system, caused welfare regimes to collapse and to come with new type of regimes or in a narrower sense new health insurance system. This paper intends to answer four questions, i.e. how do the economic crisis and SSN stimulate the governments to initiate health insurance “universalization”?; what do the key global actors take part in the “universalization”?; how do the global actors interact with the local ones in the “universalization”?; and what do the driving forces encourage the global actors to take part in the “universalization”?

ABSTRACT



Using Regulatory Theory to Stay In and Move Beyond the National Welfare

State

Gaby Ramia Associate Professor, Department of Government and International Relations

University of Sydney, Australia [email protected]

Abstract

There is now longstanding acknowledgement in social policy scholarship that understanding welfare means using frameworks and concepts, which move beyond the traditional institutions and policies of the welfare state. On the one hand there is a necessity to consider the interplay between the worlds of welfare and work, where the latter is considered in its paid and unpaid forms. On the other hand, for many welfare subjects it is necessary to think spatially, institutionally and politically beyond the national confines of welfare state analysis. This presentation considers these two imperatives by comparing the institutional determination of two welfare categories in the Australian context. The first category, unemployed people, calls for a nation-state based analysis, which requires consideration of the interplay between the institutions of welfare and work. The second category, international students, implores researchers to look well beyond national analysis, given that the welfare subjects have differential social citizenships status across at least two states, and because some of the relevant welfare institutions do not fit or are not provided within any nation-state. The presentation utilises conceptual developments in regulatory theory to compare the institutions, which cover each of the two welfare subject categories. It also examines the implications for social policy scholarship in the context of real-world global change and the intellectual development of the field.

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Shifting Policy Responses Amongst Transnational Actors to Endemic Youth

Unemployment

Ross Fergusson Senior Lecturer in Social Policy, Department of Social Policy and Criminology

The Open University, United Kingdom [email protected]

Abstract

In the early years of the 2007/8 global financial crisis, a number of International Governmental Organisations (IGOs) stepped up to a global crisis of youth unemployment that had reached unprecedented proportions in the global north and south alike. They responded with analyses of the causes of this crisis, developed policy proposals, and (in some cases) initiated programmes of action – thereby forging a new field of global social policy. These analyses, policies and programmes were typically disparate and often contrasting and conflicted, reflecting mutually contested political-economic premises regarding the causes of and solutions to burgeoning levels of mass youth unemployment (Fergusson and Yeates, 2014). A decade after the onset of the crisis, global mass youth unemployment has persisted at endemic levels, and at almost ubiquitous scales across global regions. In striking contrast, in 2015, the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) made the case that, fifteen years hence, full and productive employment in ‘decent jobs’ should be available to all young people everywhere. Juxtaposing the realities of intractably high levels of youth unemployment since 2007-08 and the aspirational reach of the SDGs in this way highlights a critical incongruity in the development and successful implementation of policies amongst IGOs in this emergent policy field. The level, modes and methods of IGO intervention have shifted significantly over the last decade. Yet there is little current cause to expect that recently evolving IGO strategies will resolve this stark disjuncture between historical achievement and transformative ambition. Two IGO partnerships now dominate this transnational policy field. Although they operate at very different scales and over different time-frames, their strategic approaches are ostensibly similar, insofar as they have strongly supply-side orientations geared towards reskilling unemployed young people, and policies that afford little priority to the social protection of unemployed young men and women, other than those that are conditional upon participation in training or job creation programmes on low-level financial benefits. This paper explores and reviews what may prove to be a highly significant reconfigurative shift in IGO involvement in policy-making and direct intervention, as between early IGO interest in youth unemployment when the financial crisis began, and the circumscribed and contingent strategies that are now on offer to encourage or enable governments and NGOs to address the plight of impoverished young people who are without work – or realistic prospects of acquiring it.

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Health Literacy and Health: Rethinking the Strategies for Universal Health

Coverage in Ghana

Padmore A. Amoah Research Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology and Social Policy

Lingnan University, Hong Kong [email protected]

David R. Phillips Chair Professor of Social Policy, Department of Sociology and Social Policy

Lingnan University, Hong Kong [email protected]

Abstract

Health literacy is generally thought to be associated with positive health behaviour, appropriate health service utilisation and acceptance of interventions to maximise health outcomes. It is therefore increasingly suggested that evidence-based research should investigate how health literacy may operate in the context of universal health coverage (UHC). However, the role of health literacy in the relationships between elements of UHC such as access to healthcare and health insurance has not been widely explored. This applies in particular in sub-Saharan Africa although service coverage and health outcomes vary hugely between and within many countries. This paper addresses this lacuna through a cross-sectional empirical inquiry in Ghana, today one of Africa’s most promising health systems. The study employed structured interviews to gather data from 779 rural and urban adults using a multistage cluster sampling approach. Health literacy, and health insurance subscription were found to be inversely associated with poor health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Access to healthcare did not predict HRQoL. However, the interaction between access to healthcare and health literacy produced a negative effect on poor HRQoL. The interaction between health literacy and health insurance subscription also showed a similar effect on HRQoL. Simple slope analysis depicted that access to healthcare and health insurance subscription related positively to HRQoL only when health literacy was high. The paper argues that where health literacy is low, even favourable policies for UHC are likely to miss set targets. While not losing sight of relevant sociocultural elements, enhancing health literacy should be a central strategy for policies aimed at bridging health inequalities and improving UHC.

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PANEL 3: Conceptualizing Social Policy in a Global Context

International Policyscapes: Rethinking Social Policy Challenges for an

Increasingly Complex World

Markus Ketola Lecturer of Social Policy, School of Applied Social and Policy Sciences

Ulster University, Northern Ireland [email protected]

Abstract

How should we study social policy in a world that is increasingly variegated, ambivalent, uncertain and complex? This paper makes the case for new 'thinking tools' for how to understand the nature of contemporary social policy challenges. The paper brings together complexity, wicked problems and policyscapes in an attempt to conceptualise how this could be achieved. It draws on examples from policy fields such as migration, health and environment in order to demonstrate the nuanced overlaps between these policy fields and aims to generate new insights to global social policy, and comparative social policy, and on the impact of globalisation on social policy.

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Values, Welfare States and Social Policy in NECs: Can We Start Connecting the Dots Now?

Joe Devine

Senior Lecturer in International Development, Department of Social & Policy Sciences University of Bath, United Kingdom

[email protected]

Keerty Nakray Associate Professor and Assistant Director, Centre for Women, Law and Social Change

Jindal Global Law School, O.P. Jindal Global University [email protected]

Abstract

The main aim of this research project is to closely examine the determinants of welfare states in NECs. Specifically, it will examine values, cultural attitudes, economic growth and social expenditure based on a range of data sets such as World Bank Indicators, United Nations Development Programmes Human Development Indicators, World Values Survey VI, and PEW Data Sets. Our on-going research examines the emerging typologies of welfare states beyond advanced capitalist countries and the possibilities of extending welfare regime types research by establishing permeable boundaries between the development studies and global social policy. In this paper, we will look at individual attitudes of freedom, individualism and equality and welfare state spending. Values and social policy are intrinsically linked to each other. Max Weber deemed rationalization process based on values which direct social action. Paul Wilding and Vic George (1975) differentiated the differences between ‘ideal types’ of liberal and socialist conceptions of three social values of freedom; individualism and equality, which shapes the evolution of social policy and administration in the developed countries. However, this relationship is rather complex and fraught with difficulties in the current contexts of global capitalism and transnational governance. We will aim to extend these debates to unravel the dynamics shaping welfare states in NECs.

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Towards a Gendered Welfare State Typology: A Comparative Analysis of Selected OECD and East Asian Welfare States

Antonios Roumpakis

Lecturer in Comparative Social Policy, Department of Social Policy and Social Work University of York, United Kingdom

[email protected] Xinide

Independent Researcher, Department of Social Policy and Social Work University of York, United Kingdom

[email protected]

Abstract Our paper begins with a critical review of existing typologies and approaches that incorporate gender into the comparative analysis of the welfare state. We revisit feminists’ critiques on the inadequacy of conceptual and methodological tools for analysing gender and care arrangements within comparative welfare research. Given the important role of women as welfare providers and family as a site for welfare provision in East Asia, we regard that this critique needs to be extended into the East Asian welfare state typology debate. So far the majority of the gender-focused literature applies predominantly on OECD countries and less so in East Asia while even fewer studies compared case studies from both. Our paper will aim to address this gap and compare selected cases both from East Asia and OECD countries. In doing so, we comparatively explore available social investment (i.e. labour force participation, educational attainment) and compensatory (i.e. maternity leave benefits childcare support) policies but from a gender perspective. The paper will utilise a fuzzy-set ideal type analysis in order to construct a new regime typology that accounts for gender inequalities among selected OECD and East Asian societies. Finally, in light of our empirical findings, we review the methodological and analytical advantages of incorporating a gender dimension into the East Asian welfare state typology debate.

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Selective Multiculturalism & the East Asian Global City Context: The Case of Hong Kong

Narine Nora Kerelian

PhD Student/Doctoral Researcher, Department of Social Work and Social Administration University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

[email protected] Gizem Arat

Post-Doctoral Fellow, Department of Social Work and Social Administration University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

[email protected] Lucy P. Jordan

Assistant Professor, Department of Social Work and Social Administration University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

[email protected] Jocelyn Lang

Independent Consultant, Singapore [email protected]

Abstract

Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China. Its past as a British colony has reinforced the East meets West positioning of Hong Kong both within the territory and through its geography as the gateway to and from Mainland China. Post-handover (1997), Hong Kong has been branded as ‘Asia’s World City’ with aspirations of cosmopolitanism foregrounded in governmental efforts commencing with its first Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa. Although there is no clear definition as to what a global city entails, for western global (world) cities, such as London and New York, the demographic component of being a ‘global city’ has been expressed through population diversity with social integration via multiculturalism. However, Hong Kong as well as neighbouring East Asian global cities (e.g. Tokyo and Singapore), appear to be prescribing to a form of multiculturalism, which we term selective multiculturalism. We deem that this selective multiculturalism is reflected within migration policy, where preferred migrants are provided access to a wider range of rights (e.g. terms of stay, right of abode) with emphasis on migrants’ potential economic assets in conjunction with racial selectivity. We argue that selective multiculturalism privileges particular ethnic minorities (e.g. often Global North, and high socio-economic status) and their cultural capital whilst finding problematic others (e.g. often Global South, and low socio-economic status). In this paper, the authors reveal the conceptualization of a new form of multiculturalism, which we term ‘selective multiculturalism’, to capture the way in which multiculturalism is being shaped via government branding and migration policy in the East Asian global city context using the case of Hong Kong.

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Is There a Common Path that Could Have Conditioned the Degree of Welfare State Development in Latin America and the Caribbean?

Gibran Alberto Cruz-Martinez

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Global Development and Planning University of Agder, Norway [email protected]

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to re-examine from a multidimensional perspective the possible existence of a single path that could have conditioned the degree of welfare state development (WSD) in Latin America. Economic/industrial development, trade-openness, democracy and the strength of leftist parties-labour movement are used as explanatory variables in the qualitative comparative analysis. In contrast to previous findings, this paper shows that there is no evidence of a common path followed by countries with a relatively high/medium WSD. Nevertheless, countries that experienced a low economic/industrial development combined with a low democratic experience were conditioned to have low WSD.

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PANEL 4: Connecting Comparative and Global Social Policy Analysis

A Global Discourse in the Making: Revisiting the Productivism, Inequality and Economic Growth Nexus in Greater China and East Asia

Stefan Kühner

Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology and Social Policy Lingnan University, Hong Kong

[email protected] Nan Yang

Independent Researcher Department of Social Policy and Social Work University of York, United Kingdom

[email protected]

Abstract Several international organizations have recently acknowledged the pro-growth effect of low inequality based on the empirical findings of cross-regional large-N quantitative studies. This paper combines key explanations in macro-economic theory and comparative social policy analysis, and selects five causal conditions to conduct a more detailed qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) for six rich economies in Greater China and East Asia. The five conditions are an economic miracle condition comprising a large manufacturing value-added share, extensive capital formation, and domestic savings; demographic dividend; globalization; income inequality; and social protection. No necessary and individually sufficient condition explains economic growth patterns (1981–2015). Instead, six different combinations of conditions that historically created pathways to economic “miracle” growth are uncovered. Among the five conditions, the demographic dividend, globalization, and inequality appear in both directions meaning they facilitated or hindered economic growth in different contexts. The economic miracle condition and productivist welfare present important INUS conditions for economic “miracle” growth. Although included in most solution terms, they did not produce a favourable outcome on their own, but only in combination with other conditions. The paper provides new insights into the historical complexities of regional welfare capitalisms. Although instrumental for the shift within the global discourse, it is a disaggregated regional focus of analysis that remains the most promising in progressing key theories within the comparative analysis of social policy development and change.

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Emerging Cumulative Effects of ‘Big-slow Moving’ Globalization on Health System: Process Tracing of Health Politics in South Korea

Young Jun Choi

Associate Professor, Department of Public Administration Yonsei University, South Korea

[email protected]

Abstract Much has been written about the effect of globalization on social policy and welfare states. While some argue for the ‘race-to-the-bottom’ thesis, others argue that more openness tends to result in larger welfare states to deal with its negative effects. Many scholars, however, tend to argue that it depends on types of welfare regimes or capitalisms and domestic politics matter. These studies certainly contribute to the understanding of the causal relationship between globalization and welfare states but tend to neglect two important aspects of globalization. First, cumulative causes of globalization, instead of producing immediate effects, tends to release cumulative effects. In other words, time and sequence should be considered in the causal process. Second, while existing studies rightly point out the importance of domestic politics, globalization interacts not only domestic politics but also de-industrialization. This might not be new, but few studies systematically investigate the causal mechanism, instead of causal relationship, among them. Using the process-tracing method, this study attempts to reveal the causal mechanism behind the case of the first for-profit hospital in South Korea. The establishment of for-profit hospitals was supported with the argument of globalization, ‘only for foreigners only by foreign investors’, but later both globalization and de-industrialization, i.e. advancement of service industry, have been engines for introducing for-profit hospitals. However, domestic actors who have advocated for-profit hospitals have actively exploited macro ‘big-slow’ moving pressures to realize their interests. This study will aim to propose the causal mechanism and provide policy implications.

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Multidimensional Social Support and Health Services Use in LAMICs: Insights from Community-Dwelling Older Ghanaian Adults

Razak Mohamed Gyasi

PhD Student/Doctoral Researcher, Department of Sociology and Social Policy Lingnan University, Hong Kong

[email protected] David R. Phillips

Chair Professor of Social Policy, Department of Sociology and Social Policy Lingnan University, Hong Kong

[email protected] Padmore A. Amoah

Research Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology and Social Policy Lingnan University, Hong Kong [email protected]

Abstract

Several aspects of social support networks have been linked to variations in health and well-being among older persons. However, it is unclear whether structural or functional social support is more influential in their healthcare use, especially in LAMICs where informal intergenerational social support is often dwindling. Ghana is experiencing considerable demographic ageing from fertility reduction and increases in life expectancy. However, a deteriorating health system seems unlikely to prove adequate for the health challenges presented by older adults, making identification of the roles of social support very important. This study examines multidimensional social support characteristics as predictors of health services utilisation among community-dwelling older Ghanaian adults (n =1,200; mean age 66.15±11.85) who participated in an Ageing, Health, Psychological Wellbeing and Health-seeking Behaviour Study. Multivariate logistic regression modelling indicated a high prevalence of 12-month healthcare use (89.3%), varied by gender across distinct components of social support (p˂0.001). Specific social support domains associated with health services use for all and by gender were number of children alive (odds ratio; OR = 2.29) (F: OR = 3.49; M = 2.02), receiving help from household (OR = 1.82) (F: OR = 1.13; M = 3.58) and remittances (OR = 1.65) (F: OR = 1.95; M = 1.98). Attending group/religious meetings was also associated with healthcare use (OR = 2.13), especially for women (OR = 3.26). Significant interactions were observed between attending social events (OR = 1.69; p˂0.05) and remittances (OR = 1.94; p˂0.05) whilst living with spouse among older women. Perceived structural and functional social supports thus appear influential in health services use among older adults in LAMICs. The study underscores the need for intervention programmes and social policies targeted at micro- and wider social- factors, including the novel area of remittances to older adults. The findings contribute significantly in achieving the health-related SDGs in LAMICs.

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The Role of International Institutions in Shaping the Post-Communist Welfare State

Gentian Qejvanaj

PhD Student/Doctoral Researcher, Faculty of Public Administration Zhejiang University, China

[email protected]

Abstract China and Eastern and Central European countries have experienced transition from communism to a post-communist economic model in the last 30 years, with different degree of market economy implementation across these countries. In the new post-communist state model, welfare state has been shifting as well. Influence coming from western international institution, played a key role in this shift to post-communism. If for Eastern Europe countries, European Union’s conditionality process has deeply influenced the fast transition to social market economy, in China, the main forces influencing post-communist transition, are still not well known. Are western international institutions influencing Chinese Welfare policy making? Moreover, if yes in which degree? The lack of a valid Socialist example to emulate on the other side implies that the path to “westernization” is open to China. However, post-communist characteristic are still present in today’s China. Therefore, my research goal will be to identify those elements still in common between Chinese and Eastern European post-communist institutions and analyse how these outside forces are influencing Chinese welfare institutions. My conclusion will than make assumption on whether China is heading towards a more western style welfare model or is keeping those main characteristic experienced in other East Asian countries.

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Social Protection and the Rise of Social Assistance Programmes in Developing

Countries: A View from the MENA Region

Rana Jawad Senior Lecturer in Social Policy, Department of Social & Policy Sciences

University of Bath, United Kingdom [email protected]

Abstract

This paper explores the political terms of the social protection discourse in the Middle East and North Africa Region (MENA), which has gained resonance among international and national actors since the events of the 2010-2011 Arab Uprisings. Using a critical social policy analysis approach and based on a recently completed ESRC-funded project on social policies in MENA, the paper discusses the extent to which social protection discourses support a more “solidaristic” turn towards social policy development in the region. In particular, it addresses the increased interest in non-contributory social assistance programming, led in large part by cash transfer programmes in Latin America and argues that as the world’s highest spender on social assistance, MENA provides cautionary evidence against the enthusiasm for social assistance. The paper is based on a comparative country case study methodological approach that is sensitive to historical and institutional context and employs on “deep evaluation” (Evelin & Bacchi, 2010) of social policy formulation.

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The Political Origins of Conditional Cash Transfers in Latin America

Ricardo Velázquez Leyer

Research Professor, Department of Social and Political Sciences Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico

[email protected]

Abstract Conditional cash transfers (CCT) programmes have become the favoured policy instrument to combat poverty in Latin America and beyond. These programmes deliver cash transfers to poor families with conditionalities like school attendance by children and compliance with health appointments by all family members. In 2017, CCT programmes can be found in every continent, and for more than a decade they have formed part of the poverty reduction strategy of international organisations and media outlets, displacing other more traditional forms of social policies. This article aims to explain the political mechanisms that lead to the creation of what seems to have become the preferred social policy instrument of the current century. The article traces the origins of the instrument to Brazil and Mexico in the mid-1990s, combining institutional and ideational analysis. In Brazil CCT programmes were first formulated and implemented by local governments of left wing orientation, in Mexico by the national centre-right government. Contrary to what may be interpreted from the available literature in the topic, the search for electoral gains or diffusion mechanisms between the original policy-makers during the agenda setting and formulation processes are not evident. Instead, the article argues that the design and implementation of similar instruments by such different types of governments resulted from the development of a similar policy paradigm, which emerged from a similar conceptualisation of the problem of poverty based on the effects of child labour on education. In both cases the institutional context was crucial to enable policy entrepreneurs to materialise their proposals.

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Citizens’ Role in the Design of Social Protection and Social Transfer

Programmes in Developing Countries

Gbenga Akinlolu Shadare PhD Student/Doctoral Researcher, Department of Sociological Studies

University of Sheffield, United Kingdom [email protected]

Abstract

In the article Poverty Reduction Is Not Development (2010) Rick Rowden argued that the meaning of development has morphed from structural issues to palliative issues. This is very evident in Conditional Cash Transfers Programmes (CCTPs) and similar social protection initiatives, which though may relieve poverty, have been criticized for failing to be transformative in its conception. Ordinarily conditional cash transfers (CCTs) are palliative measures in that they dislodge the conditions for promoting structural change by creating dependency. In recent years social protection scholars have acknowledged this and proceeded to argue for transformational changes to be introduced into the design of programmes (World Bank, 2004; Devereux and Sabates-Wheeler, 2004; Harland, 2014). Transformative Social Protection is now an emerging sub-field that acknowledges the need to be innovative beyond the basic safety net approach and include broader societal issues like economic growth and accountability (Molyneux et. Al 2016). The concern of my paper, is in relationship between state-citizen interactions or democratisation or social accountability, which can be improved or redefined through social protection interventions. Social protection initiatives can offer an important entry point for redefining state-citizen relationship as well as getting poor and vulnerable citizens involved in the political process through feedback channels by holding the state/ruling elites to account (Hickey and King, 2016; Browne, 2014). The question is not whether social protection can be transformative in terms of increasing social accountability; instead the paper will critically examine the process of designing (not so much designing in the technical sense) social protection programmes to include elements of social accountability. It is my contention that the transformative element of social accountability is demanded by the poor and vulnerable as terms of their engagement with ruling coalition as opposed to ruling elite-induced. This argument is relevant because in their review of the existing literature on what shapes successful social accountability programmes Hickey and King posited that political will and commitment are the main factors shaping the promotion of social accountability (Hickey and King 2016). I argue that this is not the case at least in developing countries. Instead the poor have to organise and request social accountability as the terms of their inclusion in the ruling coalition. To

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buttress my argument, I will employ a ‘limited access orders /political settlement framework’. The act of creating a social protection is not politically neutral; it is everywhere an attempt to include the poor in a political coalition (Mosley, 2014). The poor and vulnerable will either accept the terms of their inclusion or negotiate new terms of inclusion by demanding social accountability, a redefinition of state-citizen relations and much more. I shall draw extensive example from Nigeria, in form of a case study to show how political coalition led to social protection as a method for incorporating the poor into ruling coalition. The contribution of this paper is to redefine social protection as an invitation from political coalition to the poor and to redirect research attention in to how to get the poor and vulnerable to demand social accountability as opposed to resting on political commitment.

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Effects of a Multifaceted Economic Empowering Intervention on Long-term

Multidimensional Poverty Among Orphan Youths in Rural Uganda

Julia Shu-Huah Wang Assistant Professor

Department of Social Work and Social Administration, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong [email protected]

Fred M. Ssewamala Professor

Washington University, Brown School, United States [email protected]

Bilal Malaeb Research Officer, Department of International Development

University of Oxford, United Kingdom [email protected]

Abstract

Recent evidence pointed to the potential of multifaceted interventions in alleviating deep poverty, but there has been little rigorous evaluation on the effectiveness of such approach in alleviating poverty among children. This study examines the effects of a multifaceted intervention, which comprises a savings account with savings match and commitment devices, mentorship and trainings, in alleviating multidimensional poverty among orphan children in rural Uganda. We used a clustered randomized controlled trial design and assigned primary school-going orphan children (N=1383) from 48 schools into a control condition versus two intervention arms with differing savings match incentives (Bridges [match rate 1:1] and Bridges PLUS [match rate 1:2]). We measure poverty using a multidimensional child poverty index that is relevant to the Ugandan local context. Intervention effects were examined through ordinary least square regression and difference-in-difference models. Results show that this multifaceted economic empowering intervention alleviated the incidence of multidimensional poverty by more than 10 percentage points. The intervention effects persisted even until two years after intervention completion (48-month follow-up). The magnitude of poverty reduction was higher for the Bridges PLUS group, the study arm that received higher savings incentives. However, no evidence suggested that the scale of savings incentives (Bridges vs. Bridges PLUS) had varying intervention effects that were statistically significant.

CAMPUSMAPOFLINGNANUNIVERSITY


NOTES


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