Global vulnerability and social policy: an Agenda for discussion

• Autor(a) principal: Roberts, Bryan
• Data de Publicação: 2006
• Outros Autores: Rojas, Javier
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Cadernos Gestão Pública e Cidadania (Online)
• Texto Completo: https://periodicos.fgv.br/cgpc/article/view/44063

As changes in the global economy and in family structure place the lives and opportunities of many individuals at risk, social policy plays a major role in addressing the degree of vulnerability individuals will face in a society. In this paper, we present some of the most important issues scholars and policy-makers need to consider about the role social policy plays in a globalized world. First, we argue that the major aim of social policy is the furtherance of social citizenship. We understand social citizenship as the enhancement of individual and community capabilities to lead a decent life and to make informed choices in face of a changing global economic environment. Second, we suggest that the furtherance of social citizenship should be the benchmark against which to evaluate the degree of success or failure of any social policy. Then, after discussing some of the major social, ideological, and economic forces shaping social policy, we propose that a new type of welfare regime is emerging in the developing world. This regime is part liberal and part parternalistic, and some of its major components are the de-centralization of public administration to local authorities, a preference for targeted social policies instead of universal ones, and local community participation. Third, we argue that some of the main challenges of contemporary social policy are the product of internal and international migration, labor market instability, rising costs of subsistence in cities, and increasing spatial segregation. Finally, we suggest some of the theoretical frameworks, data, and methods scholars may want use to advance research on social policy.