In this qualitative sociological and quantitative economic policy paper, we start out from the assumption of a very recent European Commission Background paper on the "Efficiency and effectiveness of social spending", which says the effectiveness of social spending can be defined by the degree...

The essay proposes an alternative understanding of social policy, focussing on social quality and as such bringing together biographical and societal development and as well institutional and communal concerns. On this basis the author proposes a definition of precarity that goes far beyond...

The main issue of this article is to discuss the question of ‘precarity’ in the context of the theory of social quality (see Beck et al, 2001), with which to pave the way for developing further the theoretical foundation of precarity. Societal practice is the main challenge this concept...

The presentation aims on refocusing the mainstream debate, starting from looking at work as the central reference rather than seeing the constituting problem of workfare as one of social policy/social security. Of course, at the end the objective is a clearer understanding of how measures aiming...

The present paper puts the argument forward that social policy analysis today lost very much its ground of systematically approaching its objective. Rather than analysing the objective relations, processes and their foundation political arguments and discourses are very much developed on moral...

Ireland was the poorer country in 1971 European Economic Community Enlargement. This paper discusses the possible application of its historical path as a showcase for current and future UE enlargements.

The essay proposes in a brief sketch a methodology that allows assessing human rights beyond absolutism of abstract rights and relativist views which usually end in meaningless of the concept.

The article refers to a definition of globalisation in three perspectives, namely the development of territorial boarders and in particular the redefinition of regions, the development of the division of labour and distribution of power, and the changed role of culture. The latter is thereby not...

The essay proposes in a brief sketch a methodology that allows assessing human rights beyond absolutism of abstract rights and relativist views which usually end in meaningless of the concept.