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The Neoliberal Targeted Social Investment State: The Case of Ethnic Minorities

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 June 2018

AMOS ZEHAVI Open the ORCID record for AMOS ZEHAVI [Opens in a new window]  and
DAN BREZNITZ
AMOS ZEHAVI
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science and Department of Public Policy, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel email: amos.zehavi@gmail.com
DAN BREZNITZ
Affiliation:
Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada email: dan.breznitz@utoronto.ca
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Abstract

Neoliberal governance has been associated with rising inequality and economic exclusion. Recent scholarship proposes that the social investment state (SIS) is a turn away from such inequality and exclusion-enhancing neoliberalism. The ideal SIS responds to neoliberalism-generated social ills by investing in the productive capacities of all its citizens. However, commentators ask whether an SIS addresses the plight of weaker elements in society, specifically that of disadvantaged ethnic minorities. This paper looks specifically at this question by utilising a critical-case study research design of a surprising example of social investment in disadvantaged ethnic minorities: the extensive labour market policies for Israeli Arabs. This paper introduces the concept of a neoliberal targeted SIS in which social investment programmes are developed for economic reasons, promoted by neoliberal actors (right-wing parties and Ministries of Finance), target narrow groups instead of being applied to all, and the preferred mode for the delivery of services is private. Egalitarian outcomes – to the extent that they materialise – might be thought of as a policy by-product.

Type
Article
Information
Journal of Social Policy , Volume 48 , Issue 2 , April 2019 , pp. 207 - 225
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

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