Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of figures and tables
- Preface and acknowledgements
- Notes on contributors
- one Introduction: social solidarity in Europe: the fourth pillar
- two The concept of solidarity in the European integration discourse
- three Solidarity at the margins of European society: linking the European social model to local conditions and solidarities
- four Towards a globalisation of solidarity?
- five Contested terrains and emerging solidarities within childcare law, policy and practice in Europe
- six Embedding European identity in context: changing social solidarities in Europe
- seven Intra-European energy solidarity at the core of the European integration process: future possibilities and current constraints
- eight Social solidarities and immigration integration policies in South-Eastern Europe
- nine Normative power Europe: a tool for advancing social solidarity within and beyond Europe?
- ten Social solidarity in post-socialist countries
- eleven Trade unions, NGOs and social solidarity in Romania
- twelve Social solidarity and preferences on welfare institutions across Europe
- thirteen Social solidarity, human rights and Roma: unequal access to basic resources in Central and Eastern Europe
- fourteen Conclusion: the future of social solidarity in an enlarged Europe: key issues and research questions
- Index
three - Solidarity at the margins of European society: linking the European social model to local conditions and solidarities
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 September 2022
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of figures and tables
- Preface and acknowledgements
- Notes on contributors
- one Introduction: social solidarity in Europe: the fourth pillar
- two The concept of solidarity in the European integration discourse
- three Solidarity at the margins of European society: linking the European social model to local conditions and solidarities
- four Towards a globalisation of solidarity?
- five Contested terrains and emerging solidarities within childcare law, policy and practice in Europe
- six Embedding European identity in context: changing social solidarities in Europe
- seven Intra-European energy solidarity at the core of the European integration process: future possibilities and current constraints
- eight Social solidarities and immigration integration policies in South-Eastern Europe
- nine Normative power Europe: a tool for advancing social solidarity within and beyond Europe?
- ten Social solidarity in post-socialist countries
- eleven Trade unions, NGOs and social solidarity in Romania
- twelve Social solidarity and preferences on welfare institutions across Europe
- thirteen Social solidarity, human rights and Roma: unequal access to basic resources in Central and Eastern Europe
- fourteen Conclusion: the future of social solidarity in an enlarged Europe: key issues and research questions
- Index
Summary
Introduction
The European Union (EU) social model promoted primarily by the new ‘soft instruments’ of the ‘Social Open Method of Coordination’ (Social OMC) is built around the idea of social solidarity between and within nations of the EU. At the same time, since social policy is based on the principle of subsidiarity, the success of the Social OMC depends on ‘national solidarities.’ It is also confronted both at the EU and national level with other issues/agendas of the EU, such as hard instruments of economic/market integration. Focusing on how the Social OMC is forged within the national understanding and level of solidarity in the Czech Republic, and on influences upon the design and implementation of policies in social inclusion, this chapter argues that the general principles and objectives of the Social OMC have been redefined within national policies and national understandings of solidarity principles, which have been strongly influenced by prevailing neoliberal policy discourse within Europe. This discourse has emerged in the context of political practices of blaming marginalised groups and is mirrored in attitudes among the public. As a result of these mainstream discourses, policies and practices, people endangered by social exclusion are marginalised in policy making, while the policy approach based on blaming and sanctioning reinforces the barriers that result in their social inclusion. The ongoing economic recession has made the processes of social marginalisation even stronger, although some bottom-up policy initiatives of NGOs have acted as catalysts for the improvement of social capital and solidarity. The reinvention and reconstruction of the boundaries of solidarity seems to be an urgent, however uneasy, precondition for the implementation of the Social OMC.
Many commentators regard the success of the EU social model as a necessary pre-requisite for the success of the European integration project itself (for example Scharpf, 2002; Jacobsson and Schmid, 2002; De la Porte and Pochet, 2002 and others). National as well as transnational solidarity in the field of social policy seems to be a precondition for the creation of a ‘cohesive society’ whose members can form a ‘community of risk’ within the uncertain world. Pooling of risks as well as levelling of living conditions and smoothing of social inequalities at the EU level could help to contribute to the strengthening of linking social capital and social cohesion.
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- Reinventing Social Solidarity across Europe , pp. 29 - 48Publisher: Bristol University PressPrint publication year: 2011