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This report has been prepared as part of the above INTERREG project by Dr. Anne Gray, consultant, based on the discussions at a project workshop in Hatfield, England, on 13th and 14th September 1999, and on documents supplied by the participants

3) The policy context; social exclusion and the ESDP policy priorities) the historic context; types of New Town in the NWMA and how their communities have developed; factors leading to economic exclusion in each

6) the processes which give rise to social exclusion; adverse and helpful policies in a New Town context

7) initiatives to address social exclusion; examples of good practice from the project partners

8) Overall management and strategic development of policies against social exclusion

This report attempts firstly to document the specific forms of social exclusion found in New Towns and the processes which give rise to them. Secondly it describes and evaluates potential solutions, drawing on examples of good practice presented by the partners at the Hatfield meeting. These solutions illustrate the specific contribution which New Town administrations and communities can make to provide both prevention and cure for problems of social exclusion.

4) the historic context; types of New Town in the NWMA and how their communities have developed; factors leading to economic exclusion in each

6) the processes which give rise to social exclusion; adverse and helpful policies in a New Town context

7) initiatives to address social exclusion; examples of good practice from the project partners

8) Overall management and strategic development of policies against social exclusion

This report is based on written and oral contributions from the following New Towns:-

Unfortunately no material has been received from Shannon on this topic, nor from the French New Towns, and these partners were not represented at the workshop.

`Social exclusion’ is now the term preferred to `poverty’ by UK policy makers. This reflects the government’s concern with `social inclusion’ through the labour market but also a growing recognition of `exclusion’ as a process which has many different aspects, reaching beyond inadequacy of income to disadvantage in relation to access to education, access to housing[1] and to credit, quality of life in the neighbourhood, and participation in social networks or in community and political life. `Poverty’ in the sense of an income below half the national average may be experienced by around 32% of people in the UK within a 6 year period. But whilst for some, especially students, it may be a passing phase, concern about `social exclusion’ focuses on those for whom low income (and other barriers to a good quality of life) are a lasting experience.

Participants accepted a definition of economic exclusion which goes beyond merely unemployment. The quality of jobs is also important. Insecure or temporary work, low pay, needing to work long hours to earn enough, or having a part-time job whilst wanting a full-time one, or having low prospects of training and promotion are all considered to be forms of exclusion from quality jobs. The question of job quality is one of how to secure opportunities for New Town residents to enter, or remain in, the core of the labour force rather than the inferior conditions of the `secondary’ labour market.

However, the workshop participants, especially those from the Netherlands, also expressed the view that even quite well-paid people may suffer forms of social exclusion. One of these is time poverty; people may have insufficient time to spend in leisure, making friends or taking part in civic life. This may result from long working hours, a long journey to work (especially for commuters in `overspill’ towns) or simply caring for children in addition to having a paid job. A second form of social exclusion which affects people irrespective of income is the social isolation or the fragility of social networks. People who are re-housed into New Town communities (or even between neighbourhoods within a New Town) may leave family and friends behind in the place they left. Especially if they are commuters, isolation may combine with time poverty to prevent them forming new social support networks. This affects the quality of civic or community life; residents with weak networks are less likely to form voluntary associations of various kinds, or to offer each other mutual support. A high turnover of population also leads to weak social networks. Relative social isolation of individual households may contribute to a number of problems which have an above average incidence in some New Town communities. For example, Almere is said to have a high divorce rate and a high incidence of child abuse as well as problems in relation to drugs and alcoholism.

A third form of social exclusion emerges at the level of the neighbourhood. Some New Towns, for example Cwmbran, Stevenage, Basildon and Harlow in the UK, Almere and Lelystad in the Netherlands, have a higher proportion of social rented housing than historic towns, although in the UK much of this stock has been sold to its tenants in recent years [2]. In the Netherlands the occupants of social housing are not necessarily low income households. But in the UK, particularly as owner-occupation rises and social housing is increasingly reserved for the poor and disadvantaged, social housing is associated with low incomes and social problems. Market process tend to frustrate attempts to create mixed communities. In Welwyn and Hatfield, it was reported that some neighbourhoods had tended to attract higher income groups, whilst others had become `residual’ communities of lower-income residents. This had occurred despite similarity between the two kinds of neighbourhood in terms of the quality, type and mixture of housing. In Milton Keynes there are also `residual’ communities, but they tend to be concentrated in largely single tenure estates which were created by the Development Corporation in the early years. Elsewhere in Milton Keynes, a social and economic mix has generally been maintained. The residualisation process means that, over time, disadvantaged groups such as lone parents, the isolated elderly, disaffected or under-achieving youth collect in `pockets’ of deprivation. Such `pockets’ in turn may experience more problems in schools, and experience a `disadvantaged’ reputation. House prices may then fall, primary schools acquire a weaker reputation, local shops and banks may close and the neighbourhood fails to re-attract higher income residents. This process of social polarisation emerges from, or as least is accelerated by, the operation of the housing market. Thus, despite the best attempts by some New Town planners to establish, at the start, local communities which mix different income groups, subsequent sales of homes tend to upset this mixture. In the UK New Towns the polarisation process has been accelerated by the national policy of allowing tenants of social housing to buy their homes, which reduces the proportion of homes to which occupants are allocated by non-market forces. There has also been polarisation within social housing, so that in Cwmbran, for example, there exist very poor neighbourhoods in which only a minority of men of working age are economically active, and young people consequently lack work-related role models.

Several New Towns have found it useful to map indicators of social exclusion at the level of small neighbourhoods, in order to target social interventions where they are most needed and to make the case to central government for additional funds to tackle social exclusion. Indicators which can be used include:-

· Are new industries, and mobile forms of capital investment attracted to New Towns, providing enough jobs of good quality (secure and well paid) ?

· How can New Towns maintain a social mix of population within each neighbourhood, avoiding geographical segregation of the poor which tends to worsen their situation ?

· How can New Towns avoid those forms of social exclusion which arise from time poverty and social isolation of households or individuals, rather than from low

income ?

3.1. The ESDP report, `Towards Balanced and Sustainable Development of the Territory of the EU’ makes several references to social cohesion but only a few to social exclusion:-

1) Part A, para. 3.2.2. (85) of the ESDP report notes that `the future of the towns and cities in the EU depends on fighting growing poverty, social exclusion and stemming the loss of certain urban functions’. It refers to the need for inexpensive, high-quality housing, and access for all citizens to basic services and facilities such as open spaces, education and health care;

2) Part A, para. 3.2.2. (88) refers in policy option (2) to: `promotion of integrated urban development strategies, sensitive to social and functional diversity. Particular attention should be given to fighting social exclusion and the recycling and/or restructuring of underused or derelict urban sites and areas

3) Part B, para. 2.1.4. (284) states that `poorer families and immigrants are concentrated....on large public sector housing estates’

4) Part B, para 2.1.4 (285) states that `social disintegration or segregation is not a problem in itself. But where economic disadvantage, unemployment and social stigmatisation come together in areas which in addition are often characterised by cultural and ethnic differences, and which demand especially high integration efforts from their inhabitants, the risk of social exclusion is reinforced’.

The workshop discussions on social exclusion challenged the third statement in relation to Dutch New Towns, although not in relation to British ones. There was extensive discussion of the problems mentioned by the fourth statement in the presentations made by the UK partners. But the UK partners also noted that social exclusion exists in several UK New Towns despite high quality housing and green space, and has its roots in the number and quality of job opportunities available to residents as well as in issues related to sickness and disability and to lone parenthood. The Dutch partners noted forms of social exclusion which are not necessarily associated either with low income or with poor physical facilities; rather, there are a number of social problems which arise from a high incidence of long distance commuting, from high geographical mobility of households and high turnover of residents within neighbourhoods.

Throughout the workshop on social exclusion, participants were concerned to emphasise that tackling this complex of problems on intervention in the social fabric as much as, or more than, in the physical infrastructure of New Towns.

· To what extent are town planning measures an adequate response to, or means of prevention of, social exclusion ?

· In so far as social exclusion is driven by a lack of jobs, or by low wage rates, or by a high ratio of precarious to secure jobs, what measures are available to improve the employment base of a New Town ?

· How can the housing market be managed in order to minimise the risk of poor people or those with social problems becoming concentrated in particular neighbourhoods ?

· In so far as social exclusion is driven by time poverty and instability of the population within neighbourhoods, what measures can be taken to improve the quantity and quality of non-working time and its use to strengthen civil society, mutual aid and social networks ?

4.1. Types of New Town in the NWMA and how their communities have developed; processes leading to economic exclusion in each type

The `Transport’ topic report has already noted a distinction between two types of New Town, which is also echoed in the more complex functional typology presented in the `Employment’ topic report:-

· those which were designed as housing overspill towns (e.g. Cumbernauld, Evry, or Zoetermeer)

- these envisaged that a larger share of their population would commute to jobs elsewhere

· those which were intended as economic `growth poles’ (e.g. Milton Keynes, Harlow, Shannon, Lelystad, Nieuwegein and Almere)

- these have aimed to provide jobs in parallel with housing development, and to achieve relative economic self-containment

Although some New Towns are experiencing labour shortages (e.g. Nieuwegein, with 7% more jobs than its resident active labour force) others intended as growth poles may in practice now depend heavily on commuting. An example is Almere, which has only 25 jobs per 100 members of the active labour force. The New Towns close to London had only 20% of residents commuting in the 1960s, but the proportion is much higher now, and some high skilled workers travel to London because salaries are better there.

Each of these types of New Town exhibits different employment problems. These are summarised in Table 1 below. Where the problem is one of `not enough jobs’ the solutions lie beyond the scope of this topic; they fall within the sphere of local economic development policies and will be appropriate for discussion at the forthcoming Cumbernauld meeting. Alternatively the problem may be one of `personal factors’, that is, personal characteristics of jobseekers such as low skills, lack of work experience, suffering discrimination due to ethnic minority status, or social problems such as a criminal record. Jobseekers may even suffer discrimination because of where they live, if this town or neighbourhood has a poor reputation for crime or social problems. (In the UK this is known as `postcode discrimination’). For disadvantaged groups, there is a wide array of good practice in relation to vocational training, basic `employability’ training and placement with employers, which has been extensively documented in relation to European cities in general[3]. Some notable examples of good practice in projects to reintegrate the unemployed from disadvantaged groups were presented by the New Town partners and are described in Section 5. The types of employer and of skill training which will be involved in these policies depend to some extent on the type of New Town - whether it is heavily dependent on external jobs through commuting, or on local jobs.

A third factor leading to economic exclusion (the second column in the table below) concerns access to jobs. Here transport planning is of key importance. Although New Towns have a higher proportion of people using public transport to get to work than many historic settlements (see ` Transport’ topic report, para. 5.4) there are some weaknesses in transport provision, especially in the UK. Unemployed jobseekers tend to have lower car ownership rates than those in work, hence they are more dependent on public transport to gain access to jobs. This is more of an issue in the UK, where car ownership is typically rather less than in the Dutch New Towns . However, unemployed people may be reluctant to take up commuting jobs, because of the cost of travel to work in relation to their pay, which is usually low when they first re-enter jobs. This means the high dependence of many New Towns on commuting (e.g. those around Paris) may raise difficulties for the unemployed.

`Housing overspill’ towns, with considerable reliance on commuting to out of town jobs, require good public transport to nearby labour markets, whereas in `growth pole’ towns the issue may be more one of public transport between housing areas and industrial or business areas within the town. Milton Keynes was cited as one example of a New Town where some employers recruit from areas outside the town because local residents without cars have difficulty in getting to certain jobs within the town. In Basildon also , inadequate and expensive public transport is said to be a barrier for local people in accessing employment. The problem has become more severe since deregulation of public transport, involving the contracting out of bus services to private operators. Whereas the `Employment’ topic report has raised the issue of whether part-time working is more attractive in planned New Towns with relatively easy commuting compared to older towns with traffic congestion, the key factor for non-car owners is availability of cheap public transport. Part-time workers are often women, who are less likely to own cars than men, and more likely to have a complex daily journey which involves taking children to and from school or child care as well as getting themselves to work.

Amongst the groups commonly found to be disadvantaged in the labour market are mothers of young children. They need affordable child care and/or patterns of working time which are compatible with their children’s school hours. Policies can be designed to encourage local employers to offer working time patterns and career development arrangements convenient for mothers. These policies are a valuable instrument for `growth pole’ New Towns; they have been used effectively, for example, in Harlow. However, they are of no relevance to jobs outside the town which require a long journey. Mothers are unlikely to be interested in these employers even if the New Town can influence the kind of working hours they offer.

Table 1: Types of new Town and factors leading to economic exclusion in each

5. . The strengths and weaknesses of New Towns in relation to social exclusion

The workshop participants accepted the view that New Towns benefits from the following strengths in relation to the challenge of social exclusion:-

· they have no outworn industrial heritage, hence for the time being relatively few problems of industrial re-structuring which would impede residents’ chances of getting and keeping good jobs

· they have benefited from rational and comprehensive transport planning, with good road networks and good facilities for cycling; `ceteris paribus’ this helps residents to gain access to a wide choice of jobs

· many are endowed with budgets and land to completely renew the housing environment and the social infrastructure which accompanies it

· above all New Towns have a strong tradition of social and economic intervention, so that their development is less influenced by haphazard market forces than those of traditional settlements. This tradition entails a willingness to adapt to change by means of holistic or `joined up’ policies embracing economic development, housing, crime prevention, health, education and community development. Thus New Towns are better equipped than other towns of comparable size to cope with social exclusion

The unique contribution of New Towns on the map of European urban development may be to continue and optimise this tradition of planned settlement, with mutual integration of the development of housing, social infrastructure and business land uses to a degree rarely possible in traditional settlements. However, the question was posed; as housing becomes more and more marketised and their original industrial structure changes, do New Towns have the means to keep up this key tradition ? Initially most of the UK New Towns had a `land bank’ at their disposal to secure balanced development of housing and businesses. All have now used up this `bank’ except for Milton Keynes. As the power to influence development through the sale and allocation of land diminishes, other, social forms of intervention may become more important. Workshop participants emphasised that the main policy instruments at their disposal to combat social exclusion now lie in the fields of:-

· support to voluntary organisations, in order that they may play a substantial role in community initiatives to address social exclusion and sustain social and leisure facilities

Education and training was seen to be of particular importance, although it received less attention in the specific presentations of good practice made to the workshop than did the field of support to the voluntary sector.

The tradition of social intervention is now being interpreted in a different way from in the past. New Town administrations now see themselves as facilitators rather than planners of economic and social development. In the UK, they now look to community infrastructure more than physical solutions to social problems. Hence there is considerable emphasis on empowering the voluntary sector to take an active role in community development. In the Netherlands, on the other hand, there remains more emphasis on physical renewal and on a search for forms of renewal which will prevent social exclusion.

New Towns were also identified as vulnerable to certain weaknesses in some cases, relative to traditional settlements. Some New Towns experience these but others do not:-

· a relatively modern economic structure may entail a high proportion of `flexibilised’ jobs, with the implication of job insecurity and low pay

· residents may suffer `time poverty’ and lack of time to invest in civil society, problems which arise from a high economic activity rate of women, from long-distance commuting or from working in jobs which have unsocial hours and frequently changing shift patterns

· a high level of mobility; people do not stay long in a neighbourhood, which entails less social bonding or creation of mutual aid networks than in traditional settlements. This feature is aggravated where a substantial proportion of residents are people living alone, or are immigrants from other countries

· the last two factors may in turn give rise to considerable social stress as evidenced by such indicators as crime, child abuse, and alcohol abuse

· low unionisation of the work force, thus low bargaining power. Relatively new settlements tend to have lower unionisation than historically established cities. This may affect the chances of retaining branch plants of large companies when they re-structure, although it is also true that dispute-prone plants may be singled out for closure[4] . Milton Keynes was given as an example of a New Town in which the former New Town Development Corporation had used low unionisation as a `selling point’ to inward investors, an argument not however supported by the current Milton Keynes administration.

- long journeys to work and possibly to other facilities, reducing access for those residents who do not have cars and/or who find it difficult to cycle (such as the elderly and mothers with young children). In the Dutch New Towns, density tends to be higher than in the UK although still considerably lower than in historic Dutch towns. The consequences of low density, however, are less negative in the Netherlands, where there is a well-established `cycling culture’ and where central government provides generous subsidies to bus services

- high costs of maintenance of public green space; in Hatfield, for example, the cost of mowing grass strips beside the streets adversely affects the sums available for other urban services. In Milton Keynes, the former New Town Development Corporation set up a trust into which are paid the rent revenues from a number of commercial properties, in order to provide funds for maintenance of green space. However, this income stream does depend on success in letting the commercial properties.

· an economy, and a labour force, oriented towards manufacturing, which tends to be a declining source of employment. New Towns were often developed as new manufacturing centres drawing skilled workers out of inner city areas. As skilled factory jobs decline, there may be few skilled manual jobs for men (other than in housing construction if the town continues to expand). Almere, Harlow, Basildon and Lelystad all note this problem

- 25 to 30 years after the town’s foundation, many forms of infrastructure may need replacing all at once

- once the adult children of its original residents have grown up, investment may be needed in more homes and in tertiary education. Lack of these may lead to an outflow of young workers and a risk that elderly people remaining will be isolated from their grown children

New Towns may also experience some weaknesses which are features of small towns in general, rather than specifically of New Towns:-

· dependence on local demand for a range of services and infrastructures which are necessarily provided by the private sector. Shops, restaurants, cinemas and music venues for example depend largely on the town’s own population for economic survival. Where there is a concentration of social housing and consequently of low income households, this may be difficult. Almere and Stevenage were cited as examples of towns which have experienced this problem. Milton Keynes and Hatfield, on the other hand, have attracted residents of a reasonably high average income level to most of their neighbourhoods. In Nieuwegein, overall income levels are higher than the average for the Netherlands. Harlow, despite relatively modest income levels, has managed to attract a number of night clubs to its town centre and to retain a good selection of national `chain’ stores in its shopping centre. Hatfield, perhaps because of its relatively small population (c. 25,500) has had difficulty in sustaining the commercial viability of its shopping centre. This has led to specific policies to try to attract shoppers; for example an agreement with the American firm Walmart to build a new town centre superstore, and the establishment of a specialised market for organic foods. It is hoped that visitors to both these facilities will also buy from the smaller shops, thus helping to sustain them. In Basildon, on the other hand, superstore and out-of-town shopping developments have had a negative impact, since there they draw customers away from the town centre and prejudice the economic viability of shops located there.

- some New Towns were built with an economy dominated by one large employer, for example Stevenage, Corby, Glenrothes, Peterlee, and Hatfield, which lost 7,500 jobs with the departure of British Aerospace

- others, however, such as Milton Keynes, Northampton and Zoetermeer, have a more diverse economic base

- Basildon is an example of a local economy dominated by multi-national companies, with a high risk of jobs being relocated elsewhere in regions with lower labour costs

· distance from out-of-town jobs for commuters; this may be particularly an issue for the low skilled/low paid

Certain differences between New Towns make it hard to generalise. In particular, problems due to time poverty, excessive mobility of the population, isolation and weak social and family networks, were emphasised in relation to the Netherlands, whilst issues of low wages and insecure work were emphasised in relation to Stevenage and Harlow. Cwmbran, with a declining population and serious problems in relation to the quality and condition of the housing stock, suffers specific difficulties not generally experienced elsewhere[5].

6. The processes which give rise to social exclusion; market processes, adverse and helpful policies in a New Town context

In so far as social exclusion arises from market processes, one can envisage a policy of prevention which seeks to avoid exclusion by intervening either in the local economy or in the local housing market. Exclusion from jobs, and a lack of quality jobs, arises partly from problems at the level of economic development, as mentioned in section 2. If a New Town can attract sufficient employers, and attract ones which offer good pay and working conditions, exclusion can be avoided for most of its residents (although disadvantaged groups of unemployed will remain). However, some workshop participants were pessimistic about the possibility of selecting inward investors. Policy instruments to attract companies are few, once any initial `land bank’ has been used up. Powers to refuse companies permission to take up other land are limited to those available under planning law. In some New Towns, for example Lelystad, it was so difficult to attract jobs in the 1980s that the town may now be glad of any inward investors who come forward. On the other hand the American example of South Carolina was put forward as a policy package which had worked to attract jobs of the desired kind. Having identified the kind of industry they wanted to attract, administrators there visited companies to ask what kind of labour their new establishments would need. They then developed local training programmes targeted towards those needs, so that a company could then be presented with a ready-trained labour pool from which it could recruit workers. This was highly successful in transforming the local industrial base.

Policies to attract inward investors need to try where possible to bring jobs for the whole range of age groups and occupational groups to be found in the New Town and to ensure adaptation of local skills to the requirements of growing sectors. Again in Lelystad, available jobs are mainly at professional level or at lower skilled manual level. Thus there are few jobs at skill levels between these two extremes to hold young adults in the town. Young people tend to leave, sometimes to Almere which offers better prospects for them. The remaining community is then polarised between the very well-educated and the low skilled; these two groups tend not to interact well and form a coherent community. In Hatfield, the most socially mobile workers have tended to move away, leaving the lower skilled behind. But this group have inadequate or inappropriate skills for the business services sector, which is the most rapidly growing part of the local economy.

Educational and training facilities - including facilities for life-long learning - were considered an important policy instrument for New Towns, not only in the light of the S. Carolina example, but as a way of holding young adults in the community. In Lelystad, for example, training in some key specialisms cannot be found within the town, which is another reason why young adults drift away. In Almere the lack of higher education institutions again leads young people to leave, although they sometimes return in later years if they want a family house with a garden. If this suggests the expansion of tertiary education as a positive feature, there was, on the other hand, varied experience amongst workshop participants of the role of universities in the community. In Milton Keynes the presence of the Open University was felt to be a positive factor in local economic and community development. One of the largest local employers, this is a nation-wide open learning facility, operating primarily through radio and television as teaching media, but without a locally resident student body. In Hatfield, on the other hand, the University of Hertfordshire, although also one of the largest employers in the town, may not be so well integrated into the local community. Some competition occurs there between local residents, especially youth and women, and students in the market for part-time jobs. Some conflicts occur between the older population and the students.

Basildon has recently embarked on a major educational intervention through the creation of an Education Action Zone. The UK government has awarded special funding for such `zones’ in selected areas. Key aspects of the Education Action Zone include nursery provision for all pre-school children; promotion of `good parenting’ skills, extra facilities for helping young children (and their parents) gain basic literacy skills, modifying the secondary school curriculum to take into account employers’ needs and work-related skills, part-time and flexible education for young worker, young parents and the young unemployed. 6.1.4. The problem of precarious and low paid work

Stevenage is an acute example of the way in which the labour market is now moving in the UK as a whole, with recent research at the London School of Economics showing that low pay and insecure work is tending to replace unemployment[6]. In Stevenage, the fall in unemployment from 12.3% in 1993 to 2.6% in 1999 is largely due to an expansion of service sector jobs which tend to be low paid. Stevenage now has one of the highest proportions of low paid workers in the Eastern Region of England, as evidenced by claims for housing benefits which run at 25% of all households. The backcloth to the challenge of social exclusion in New Towns is the way in which skill shortages in higher-level occupations tend to raise salaries in those jobs, whilst unskilled people lack the qualifications or experience to move into the jobs where pay is rising fast. This leads to greater inequality, with increasing risks of disaffection and crime. Children’s life chances tend to be linked to those of their parents, so that the risk of getting stuck in low paid, insecure work is passed from the older to the younger generation.

A New Town response to this process of polarisation and `casualisation’ within the labour market might be to identify upward pathways of occupational mobility through education, vocational training and work experience, which young people and women returners to the labour market can follow. Specialised training programmes can be put in place where necessary to provide for particular companies’ needs. Research on the available labour pool may help companies to identify the `business case’ for particular training policies or for the introduction of family friendly working practices. A model in this respect was the work pursued by Harlow Council with pharmaceutical companies in the early 1990s, helping them to develop training and recruitment policies for laboratory technicians. These policies were designed to attract school leavers and inactive women into jobs which offered the prospect of part-time university study funded by the employer.

There was some discussion of facilities for small businesses. Whereas in older cities, old or even derelict factory buildings can often provide cheap start-up premises for small firms, buildings of this kind tend to be lacking in New Towns. This may create a shortage of small business space.; as noted in the `Employment’ topic report, small firms may be unable to compete with large ones for the limited stock of sites and buildings now available in the New Towns of the NWMA . Hatfield is taking special measures to address this issue. In Basildon, the need to encourage small firms is recognised as a way of reducing the dependence of the local economy on multi-nationals. In Stevenage, there has been some conversion of empty shop units to space for small firms, as well as for voluntary groups and community enterprises. In Cwmbran, there may be scope for converting empty housing for other uses, in particular those blocks of flats which are unpopular and hard to let; `unwanted’ older housing of this kind may be found in several other New Towns.

6.2.1. With regard to the housing market, the ideal `preventive approach’ to avoid social exclusion appears to be to create a diverse housing mix, capable of attracting an economically diverse community. High spenders will provide jobs and attract commercial facilities (restaurants, cinemas, etc) for others. The presence of more affluent, better educated residents makes schools easier to run at high standards, leading to greater educational achievement and vocational skills, and in turn to higher earnings and economic activity rates. In some New Towns this was recognised at the planning stage. For example in Milton Keynes, in the later phases of the town’s development each `grid square’ (measuring 1km across) of the new residential area was designed to have a mixture of social (rented) and owner occupied housing . An important aspect of the mixed `grid squares’ is the integration of different social classes within the same primary school. These mixed areas have achieved a more successful social development than the earlier housing estates in the town, which consisted almost entirely of social rented housing, and now suffer a concentration of social problems, as do some of the concentrations of social housing in Cwmbran. However, in the Netherlands, living in social housing is not necessarily associated with low income; Nieuwegein, for example, has a high percentage of social housing but an average household income level higher than the Dutch average and a lower proportion of low income households than the Dutch average. Some of the Dutch New Towns see an increase in the proportion of more expensive types of housing, bringing higher-income households, as a way to improve the quality of life for tenants. However, it is emphasised that some mixed income neighbourhoods `work’ and other do not. The reasons for this are not fully understood, although the importance of a full range of people across the income spectrum, rather than just from top and bottom, has already been mentioned.

6.2.2. On the other hand, where demand from higher income groups creates upward pressure on house prices, some young couples may be unable to afford to stay in the town. This is occurring in Hatfield, where a shortage of larger houses at the top of the market leads to high-earning households competing with lower-income households for small houses, leading to a large number of `concealed households’ consisting of young people unable to move away from their parents.

6.2.3. A concern in the Dutch New Towns is how to encourage mutual aid within communities by keeping families together. This may mean that the New Town needs to provide housing for the retired generation as well as the working generation, and find both land and funds to expand so that young people, as they grow up, can have homes in the same town as their aging parents. The `Housing’ topic report notes a significant demand for new housing due to the expansion of New Towns’ population, which in many cases is difficult to meet because of constraints on land supply and construction budgets.

6.2.4. It was also argued that the rate of expansion of new communities might need to be constrained in order to give newcomers sufficient time to form social networks before further new households arrive. In Almere, for example, a new inflow of around 10,000 new inhabitants per year imposes strain so social networks. In Zoetermeer, high mobility of the population is one of several factors giving rise to weak networks and alienation of youth.

6.2.5. There is a need to develop a sense of identity, transforming the community from a `new town’ into `my town’. Community development associated with schools, child care, and a reduction in the proportion of workers who commute to out-of-town jobs were mentioned as policies conducive to the development of social networks and social cohesion. The keys to community development at neighbourhood level are policies to encourage social networks between households and `empowerment’ of the voluntary sector. The next section presents a number of examples in how to do this.

Examples of comprehensive interventions to address all aspects of social exclusion in badly affected neighbourhoods were put forward to the workshop by both Stevenage and Hatfield. They are similar in approach, and share many features with the three year plan adopted in the south west of Cwmbran. The Neighbourhood Strategy for three of the oldest and most deprived wards of Stevenage is focused on five key issues:-

- support to the voluntary sector, to help the community develop support networks and social facilities

- to increase awareness about nutrition, combat drug and alcohol abuse and excessive smoking; promote exercise; promote good parenting

Examples of good practice from several towns, which were described to the workshop, relate particularly to the first two of these headings.

7.2. Community capacity building; how to promote social networks and the voluntary sector

7.2.1. Under this heading, the Stevenage plan provides for training and development for the committees of voluntary organisations, organizational envelopment support, training of volunteers, training in how to apply for funds from a variety of sources, and a flexible small grants scheme. It also incorporates encouragement for community enterprises; small businesses, often run on a non-profit-distributing basis, which address local social and environmental needs, and which have some paid workers alongside volunteers. An example is a Credit Union, the UK term for a community based savings and loans club or `mutual’ savings and credit institution.

7.2.2. Included in the `capacity building’ work in Stevenage is work specifically with ethnic minority groups, to assess their needs, help ethnic minorities to develop community initiatives and to access public services, and to encourage them to become volunteers. Another form of community capacity building is advice on welfare benefits and money management for families. Some of these interventions have their parallel in Harlow, where the Council is helping voluntary groups to develop skills in applying for funding to European Union and other sources. In Harlow, the focus of the Single Regeneration Budget programme is on youth; firstly on developing mentoring schemes and secondly on empowering youth, through a training programme, to run a volunteer bureau.

7.2.3. Milton Keynes provides an example of a New Town which has carefully fostered the development of voluntary groups since its foundation. The Milton Keynes Development Corporation (the public body initially in charge of developing the town) emphasised social development as a necessary complement to physical development. It set up a Social Development Department which welcomed new arrivals to the town with full information about leisure facilities, public and commercial services and activities they could take part in. `Arrivals workers’ were appointed to do this work and to settle in new families. The Social Development Department was responsible for development of play facilities, buildings for the voluntary sector, allotments (small plots of land to rent for growing vegetables), arts and sports facilities. Where possible it tried to initiate provision through partnership with churches and voluntary associations.

7.2.4. It also gave grants to the voluntary sector with a view to encouraging many groups to become active in fields such as the arts, sports, social support to women, families and the elderly or disabled, support and advocacy for ethnic minorities, youth clubs, etc. In 1987 the Milton Keynes Community Trust (now the Milton Keynes Community Foundation) was set up to provide a source of funds independent of the local authority for local groups and charities. The Foundation has a property portfolio that produces significant income and had net assets of £6m in 1999. Companies and individuals are invited to donate towards the Trust’s Arts, Community or Sports Funds and an annual prize draw is held to generate income for these funds. Voluntary groups can also raise money for the funds, and can keep half of what they raise. Grants are made each year from the three funds to support local activities. In addition, a bequest provides £100,000 per year for grants to elderly or mentally or physically disabled people.

7.2.5. The Milton Keynes Development Corporation also constructed community meeting places in each part of the town, allowing a meeting hall of approximately 180 square metres for each 3,000 inhabitants. Some land in each part of the town was kept in reserve for churches, voluntary organisations’ offices, and day centres or hostels. Some community groups found that they could operate best in the town centre, rather than in smaller `neighbourhood centres’; they needed to be accessible to their clients who might be fairly numerous in each area (e.g. mothers and children) or scattered sparsely across different neighbourhoods (e.g. ethnic minorities). Subsequently some unused shops were also let to community groups, and a number of buildings occupied by voluntary groups have passed into the ownership of a property company which is a subsidiary of the Milton Keynes Community Trust. In this way cheap offices and meeting places can be preserved for the voluntary sector’s use.

7.2.6. As a result of these policies, Milton Keynes has a thriving voluntary sector. By 1988 over 50% of Milton Keynes’ population were members of at least one church, voluntary group or association; the most common types were sports clubs, churches or other places of worship, mothers’ groups and residents’ associations[7]. A survey in 1993 found over 500 groups in the town, with almost 2000 paid staff and 14,000 unpaid volunteers[8].

7.2.7. Both Hemel Hempstead and Stevenage also set up, at the start of these towns’ development, a specific team within the local administration which was responsible for social development; for support to new arrivals and for promoting the voluntary sector. It is noticeable that today these towns, like Milton Keynes, have a better developed voluntary sector than Hatfield and Welwyn, which did not carry out the same degree of community development work.

7.2.8. In Almere a system of `community chest’ small grants to voluntary groups is administered by a board of young people, subject to the final approval of the Mayor and the aldermen. The main aim is to encourage the youth to take part in an important civic process by giving them the privilege of allocating one million guilders. Being involved in the grant-making process gives social recognition and empowerment to the youth. It has also led to the creation of many new musical and sports groups. In Lelystad, there is an attempt to professionalise the voluntary sector by offering groups a grant to take on a paid worker. Both Almere and Lelystad offer subsidies to the voluntary sector to promote, for example, sports, libraries, and activities for ethnic minority groups. There is an attempt to bring groups together in each neighbourhood for long term planning and to find partners for future development.

7.2.9. Consultation with community groups about long term neighbourhood development is seen both as an end in itself and as a way of promoting networking and interest in an area’s future. In Welwyn/Hatfield, neighbourhood consultations have been held about the district plan; groups first came together for meetings to learn about the planning process, and then met several more times to draft elements of the plan.

7.2.10. In Lelystad, some voluntary organisations have been partly staffed by unemployed people who have been offered subsidised jobs, making use of government programmes to assist hiring of the long-term unemployed. Other unemployed people have been permitted to work as volunteers whilst claiming unemployment benefit.

7.3.1. Theatres, music venues and night clubs serve a number of important functions for New Town communities:-

· as ways of attracting out-of-town visitors, who help to sustain the local economy by spending in shops and restaurants and on public transport

· as ways of attracting people to the town centre during the evenings, which helps to deter crime

The development of bars, cafés and night clubs in town centres will help Milton Keynes and Harlow to sustain a `night time economy’. In Milton Keynes such development has been associated with the opening of a new theatre during 1999. In Harlow, it is beginning to form around night clubs close to the main shopping area. Zoetermeer, too, is proud of the wide range of leisure activities and restaurants on offer to residents. These are seen not only as a way of attracting residents, but also feature in promotion of the town to inward investors. Such facilities contribute to a rich and varied quality of life which is important to achieve a contented workforce and to retain young workers in the area.

7.3.2. . Cultural activities can bring a sense of identity and pride to a town or to particular communities within it. Some French New Towns have encouraged ethnic minority music events as a social focus for large areas of social housing. This has been very successful; indigenous youth now participate as well as ethnic minority groups and a `cultural industry’ is growing, using old warehouse buildings as music venues and sending musicians and dancers on tour to other towns. The English New Town of Bracknell also holds regular large-scale music festivals, some focused on `world music’, which attract outside visitors.

7.4.1. Ethnic minority groups are as small as 2% of the population in some New Towns, but quite large in others, such as Zoetermeer which has over 13%. The social situation of minorities varies considerably with their origin and language, economic status and their length of settlement. All are vulnerable to some degree of discrimination in the labour market. Some may circumvent this problem to a degree by forming their own businesses. In Milton Keynes, for example, a number of Chinese households with substantial savings have recently arrived from Hong Kong, and are likely to make a contribution to the growth of small companies. In most New Towns in southern England, a significant share of small shops and restaurants are run by Asian households.

7.4.2. Ethnic minority groups may be particularly vulnerable to isolation, the more so if only very few of the town’s population share their culture. This isolation, together with vulnerability to unemployment, particularly risks creating alienation amongst youth, as experienced in Zoetermeer. Ethnic minorities may need particular support to develop cultural groups, mutual aid networks, shops and places of worship which meet their needs. An example is the Milton Keynes Asian Women’s Project, which for the last seven years has provided training, employment advice and social support for Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi women as well as organising cultural events. It serves to reduce their isolation and address the problem of racism, as well as helping them enter the labour market.

7.4.3. In Milton Keynes, projects put forward for the Single Regeneration Budget involve a partnership between the Council and the Bangladeshi and Pakistani communities. Their objective is to provide comprehensive community capacity building for these communities in the oldest parts of Milton Keynes.

7.5. Education and lifelong learning; support for excluded youth and the unemployed

7.5.1. The approach pursued in the Stevenage Neighbourhood Strategy is to address the needs of all age groups, from pre-school children to adults, by means of:-

· family learning groups, involving pre-school learning and skills/social development for children, together with an attempt to enhance the core skills of the parents (literacy, numeracy, communication, etc) in order to increase their potential for lifelong learning

· a part-time crèche for pre-school children, to permit parents time to attend training courses

· all-day child care, to extend opportunities for employment and training for the parents

· working with schools to raise educational attainment, for example by means of counseling, joint parent/child homework activities

· curriculum development to encourage the 14-19 age group to attend well, remain in education and acquire readiness for work and for self-employment

· mentoring of youth to help them stay in education and make an effective transition to work

· job search/information points which in particular offer access to computers and to the internet for those who do not have computers at home

7.5.2. Lelystad provides a comprehensive, innovative strategy for training and placing long term unemployed people through a project called Flevo Werkt, which takes 1200 clients per year and finds work for over two thirds of them. Its most innovative aspect is the `Regional Transfer Organisation’ which acts as an employment agency for placing the unemployed, finding them a portfolio of part-time jobs which can be put together as one full-time job in the service of the agency. Training is delivered through `learn at work’ centres which offer general employability training, followed where necessary by more specialised vocational training. These training programmes are individualised according to clients’ needs. Each client benefits from a mentor, and the approach to learning is highly reflective; trainees keep log books of their learning experience and have regular review sessions to define their problems and achievements as a group.

7.5.3. A number of New Towns have identified significant problems related to disaffected youth. Stevenage offers a highly successful example of a project for this group, which workshop participants visited. The Wheels Community Project offers teenagers an array of training and leisure activities, attracting them first of all to have fun and make friends, and leading them towards formal training and work experience. Activities include re-building and racing old cars, sports, camping and international youth exchange trips, computer skills, job search and training in basic motor mechanics. Unlike many informal training projects, Wheels offers each person an individual training package and carefully maps their progress in terms of personal development.

7.5.4. A parallel project in Cwmbran touches on the related theme of community safety. In order to reduce the incidence of graffiti, a youth worker has developed, with a group of young people, a constructive programme of mural painting for them . This demonstrates to the older residents the youth’s ability to make a constructive contribution to the community and reduces conflict between the generations.

7.5.5. Cwmbran presents an especially severe unemployment problem, with only a minority of working age men being economically active. In this context, volunteering activity of all kinds is seen as a way of regaining skills and confidence. Activities such as producing community newsletters, and doing small home maintenance tasks for elderly residents, provide useful work experience as well as being ends in themselves. Many of the men who are not economically active are older or in poor health; thus their chances of regaining paid jobs are low, but they may represent an important resource for volunteer work.

7.5.6. Reference has already been made to the Education Action Zone in Basildon. The inclusion of programmes to improve parenting skills and to improve learning by very young children recognises the need for an early start to lay the foundations of lifelong learning. It is also based on American research which suggests that intervention in the upbringing of socially excluded children before the age of 4 can assist their work prospects as adults and reduce the risk of them committing criminal offences in later life. The Education action Zone seeks to involve both parents and employers in the educational process. Parents, by helping them to understand how they can help their children to learn, both before the school years and during those years; employers, by providing opportunities for work experience as a learning opportunity for teenagers, by cooperation in curriculum design and by helping to facilitate continued access to education for 16-20 year olds.

8. Overall management and strategic development of policies against social exclusion

8.1.1. Partnership, between voluntary groups, between them and the local administration, and between all these parties and employers, is an important theme in the community development strategy of a number of New Towns. This a key aspect of the shift from `planner’ to `facilitator’ in the role of the local administration. To ensure that they are not over-dependent on public sector funding which may later be cut back, it is best for community groups and facilities to obtain funding from a broad range of sources.

8.1.2. Partnership in the sense of coordination between a wide range of agencies is also a key factor for success of a holistic community development policy; these agencies may include those responsible for schools, social services, housing , police, health, vocational training and placement of the unemployed. Local neighbourhood policies may need to be carefully linked to strategies which each agency has in relation to a wider area; the neighbourhood strategy must fit in with the wider one, and the wider one needs to reflect the needs of small neighbourhoods. Some issues (for example the position of ethnic minorities, or services for disabled people) may best be tackled at the level of the whole town, rather than starting with small neighbourhoods.

8.2.1. Funding structures for holistic community development need to be flexible. The French `Contrat de Ville’ presents a useful model. The EU Structural Funds now offer the possibility of linked investments in physical renewal and social (e.g. training) infrastructure, and there are a number of specific EU programmes which are relevant to tackling social exclusion in New Towns, for example Inter-reg 3, Eco, LEDA and URBAN. But in order for local administrations to take full advantage of EU funding, the timetables and procedures of national programmes need to be streamlined with EU ones.

8.3.1. A number of key factors in local and regional development lie outside the control of New Towns, for example the regional road and railway networks. This may present a need for coalitions with neighbouring settlements to influence factors outside the New Town’s control, e.g. Milton Keynes’ collaboration with a number of other local authorities to negotiate with central government and railway companies for the proposed East-West Rail Link.

9.1.1. New Towns have a valuable tradition of social planning which interlocks with physical planning . Their institutions are well adapted to carry out holistic programmes of community development which are needed to tackle social exclusion. These programmes need to go far beyond the improvements of residents’ prospects in the labour market. They require a multiple agency approach to complex problems which embrace employment, education, health, family problems, crime, transport, and cultural facilities especially for youth. Part of this approach is to help the community to develop its own initiatives and solutions.

9.1.2. However, where possible prevention is better than cure. The key to prevention lies partly in attracting sufficient quality jobs and partly in maintaining balanced communities with a mixture of occupations and income levels as well as a good balance between age groups.

9.1.3. Some forms of exclusion are not limited to the most economically disadvantaged. Promoting social networks and many forms of mutual aid and cultural activity is important to avoid social isolation and problems which stem from it, such as alienation of youth and stress amongst young mothers. `Time poverty’ caused by long journeys to work may be a contributory cause of social isolation. Communities with high dependence on commuting, and a high turnover of population, suffer an increased risk of social isolation.

For convenience these recommendations are grouped under headings corresponding to EU policy concerns, although not all of the headings of this kind mentioned in the `Employment’ topic report merit a recommendation in relation to tackling social exclusion.

R1; Neighbourhoods with a broad socio-economic mix are, to some extent, an insurance policy against social exclusion. But they need to be formed by creating `pull’ factors for middle and upper income groups rather than by resisting an influx of the poor.

R2; Too low a density of residential development jeopardises mobility for persons without cars

R3; Adequate land assembly powers are needed for New Towns to provide for SME development (cf `Employment’ topic report) and for employment expansion generally, as well as to provide enough housing to enable several generations of families to remain in the same settlement.

R4; Adequate funding is needed to make public transport available and affordable, especially for women and youth, in order to secure labour mobility and promote social cohesion within New Towns

R5; Considerable investment funds are needed for development of the voluntary sector, of community centres, of facilities for children and youth, and for projects to integrate migrants, in order to achieve social cohesion and establish a strong `civil society’ in New Towns. The investment required is as much in human resources (e.g. youth workers, community workers, children’s nursery staff) as in physical infrastructure.

R6; Good practice needs to be developed in community development work, to help voluntary organisations to grow and to become a resource for autonomous development of the arts, sports and local services.

R7; Strategic policies for lifelong learning, and for continued upgrading/re-matching of skills to the developing labour market, are needed to help New Towns attract high skilled jobs with good pay and job security.

R8; Deregulation and `flexibilisation’ of the labour market may carry the risk of creating social exclusion for some, especially if the growth of part-time, short-term or low paid jobs is spatially concentrated, leaving insufficient opportunities for full time adult jobseekers.

R9; New Towns need to attract and retain a diversity of jobs so that there will be suitable opportunities for all ages, genders and skill groups in the population.

R10: Working with companies to secure opportunities for training for upward career progression and for `family friendly’ working hours can help to avoid social exclusion, especially of women and youth. Strategies for developing company partnerships in this respect can be linked to comprehensive policies for lifelong learning.

Basildon District Council; Est Basildon; the country’s first Education Action Zone

European spatial Development Perspective; Towards Balanced and Sustainable Development of the Territory of the EU

Marshall Coleman, Welwyn Hatfield Council; The contribution of New Towns to inner city regeneration; the case for continued investment

Inclusive New Town; Topic 3; Social Mobility; volume of background information supplied to the meeting on 13th/14th September 1999

Inclusive New Town; Topic s; Social Inclusion; minutes and background information for the meeting on 13/14 September 1999

Inclusive New Town; Some additional information on public transport (Shannon meeting, July 1999)

Municipalty of Lelystad; contribution to Inclusive New Town Topic 3; Social Mobility

Milton Keynes Council of Voluntary Organisations; brieifng on the Voluntary Sector in Milton Keynes

Stevenage Partnership Group; Single Regeneration Budget Round 5 Bid; a neighbourhood strategy for Stevenage

Welwyn Hatfield Council; Welcome to Welwyn HatfieldCity of Zoetermeer; Zoetermeer; The planned city that works

[1] The `Housing’ topic report notes a Europe-wide shortage of affordable housing to rent, and details how this specifically affects a number of New Towns in the NWMA.

[3] See, for example, the reports of the ERGO1 and ERGO2 programmes, in 1992 and 1996 respectively, published by the European Commission, DGV

[4] See Doreen Massey and Richard Meegan, Politics and Method; contrasting studies in industrial geography, Methuen, 1985, page 138, and Doreen Massey, Industrial Location and the Economy; considerations on space and class, Macmillan, 1983

[6] See Jobs, Wages and poverty patterns of persistence and mobility in the flexible labour market, edited by Paul Gregg, published by the Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics, 1997

[7] Mark Clapson, University of Luton, Community and Association in Milton Keynes since 1970, in Mark Clapson, Mervyn Dobbin and Peter Waterman, The best laid plans’; Milton Keynes since 1967, University of Luton Press 1998

[8] Information supplied from Milton Keynes Council of Voluntary Service

Worklife 2000

Once again we want to have a look on the series of conferences and workshop meetings, which take place in preparation of the Swedish Presidency in early 2001. One of the workshops was titled Job creations – any new ideas? (Brussels. 15-17 November 1999) Colleagues from a variety of institutions took place and represented the private sector, the research sector, NGOs and consulting organisations from different member states of the EU. The very qualified and interested conduct by Bernd Hofmaier from the Halmstad University in Sweden, Centre for Working Life R&D made it possible that the discussion reached a high level of information and the results are worthwhile to be considered as appropriate in regard of the heading of the workshop. Of course, it is another point now if politicians are willing to take up innovative ides to reach innovative political practice.

From the European Social, Action and Science Consultancy (ESOSC) and at the same time representing the European Social Action Network (ESAN) Peter Herrmann took part at the meeting and presented some main ideas on New Employment Opportunities in and by the 3^rd Sector.

Improving the Infrastructure for women Entrepreneurship – A Tool for Regional Development – Agneta Hansson

Examples of region-based innovative job-creation – Bernhard Schneider/Lars Karlsson

Work organisation and Employment – the crucial role of innovative strategies in the region Bologna – Andrea Bardi

(contact for more information: http://www.niwl.se/wl2000/; Arne Wennberg. Secretary General of the Work Life 200 Organising Committee. National Institute for working life. SE-17184 Solna. Sweden. Ph; +4687409071 Telecopie: +4682700148. Arne.Wennberg@niwl.se or International Secretariat. National Institute for Working Life. SE-17184 Solna. Sweden. Maud.werner@niwl.se or gunborg.jungeteg@niwl.se

A concerted strategy for Modernising Social Protection

Europe, Social issues and the rest of the World – a truly wider field of issues

Review of selected books on Social Policy and Welfare Regimes

I* Anthony Barnes Atkinson: Poverty in Europe. Oxford/Malden, Mass.: Blackwell Publishers, 1998 (Yrjö Jahnsson Lectures)

II The End of the Welfare State? Responses to state retrenchment. Eds: Stefan Svallfors/Peter Taylor-Gooby. London/New York: Routledge, 1999 (Routledge/ESA Studies in European Society) ISBN 0-415-20771-1

III European Societies. Fusion or Fission?. Eds.: Thomas P.Boje/Bart van Steenbergen/Sylvia Walby. London/New York: Routledge, 1999 (Routledge/ESA Studies in European Society) ISBN 0-415-19843-7

IV* From social exclusion to social integration. Final Report of a research project by the International Council on Social Welfare (ICSW). European Region. Project Co-ordination: Linda Horn. Helsinki undated (1999)

V* Linking Welfare and Work. European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions. Dublin 1999. ISBN 92-828-5387-X. (contact: teresa.renehan@eurofound.ie or postmaster@eurofound.ie respectively)

VI* Brian Nolan/Christopher T Whelan: Loading the Dice? A Study of Cumulative Disadvantage. Dublin: Oak Tree Press in association with Combat Poverty Agency, 1999. ISBN 1-86076-144-5 (http://www.oaktreepress.com and http://www.cpa.ie)

VII* Local Partnerships for social exclusion? Jim Walsh et.al. Dublin: Oak Tree Press in association with Combat Poverty Agency, 1999. ISBN 1-86076-119-4 (http://www.oaktreepress.com)

VIII* Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD): A caring world. The new Social Policy Agenda. Paris: OECD, 1999

IX* “Piazza Grande’s laboratories” between work and social action. Pilot action “Third System and Employment” – DG V. Project Leader: Association “Amici die Piazza Grande”. Partners: Cile-CGIL and Iress soc.coop.. Eds.: Alessandro Martelli, Maria Teresa Tagliaventi, Paolo Zurla. Milano: FrancoAngeli s.r.l., 1999 (Sociologia del lavoro. Teorie e ricerche). ISBN 88-464-1654-6 (http://www.francoangeli.it)

X* Policies for Low Wage Employment and Social Exclusion. Eds.: Claudio Lucifora/Wiemer Salverda (LoWER. European Low-Wage Employment Research Network). Milano: FrancoAngeli s.r.l., 1998, ISBN 88-464-1101-3 (http://www.francoangeli.it and http://www.eco.rug.nl/lower.html)

XI* Professions, New Public Management and the European Welfare State. Eds.: Mike Dent/Maggie O’Neill/Carl Bagley. Stoke-on-Trent. Staffordshire: Staffordshire University Press, 1999. ISBN 1 897898 46 0 (contact: C.L.Mason@staffs.ac.uk)

XII Transnational Social Policy. Ed.: Catherine Jones Finer Malden: Blackwell Publishers, 1999 (First published as a special issue of Social Policy & Administration. Vol. 32/5. December 1998)

Of course the debate, which had been mentioned at the end of the first part of the review is closely interlinked with and can only be understood by considering two fundamental questions concerned with the welfare state. The two following books are very important in this respect. The volume edited by Stefan Svallfors and Peter Taylor-Gooby asks if we reached ‘The End of the welfare state’ (II) and provides a look at the responses to state retrenchment – thus reads the subtitle. Remarkable is that the volume is not limited to the member states of the EU. Remarkable is furthermore that the readers learns a lot about the so-called Nordic or Scandinavian countries. And remarkable in regard of the issue itself is that these countries, the former stakeholders of a strong Western welfare state cannot be excluded of the recent developments of retrenchment.

In general we have to be very cautious when discussing matters of social policies – a methodological warning given in one article on Welfare State Opinions among Citizens, MP-Candidates and Elites (Pauli Forma). It is an issue in other contributions alike: ‘In this study the dependent variables measured support for different institutional solutions for pension security. The results could have been different had we studied, for example, whether pension benefits should be cut.’ (101) Indeed, we have to be more aware about the complexity of the issues when discussing the welfare state, welfare state regimes and trends in their development. This is not to be understood as defence of current systems – in many cases a differentiated view is challenged by those who are main promoters of retrenchment policies with the single aim to sell their approach as reform, as reorganisation instead of reduction.

This gets clear in nearly all of the contributions, which work out the meaning of the general trends in regard of different policy fields, in regard of different actors and/or in regard of the varying context. And this is important, indeed. Even in the so called postmodernist era and even under conditions of globalisation where allegedly all policy making depends on objective, unchangeable economic forces and conditions (social) policy depends on actors, on aims set by these actors and – beforehand – by the perception of policies. Thus, instead of falling in a set trap of said global economic forces there is still space for action. Thus the question ‘Who wants to preserve the ”Scandinavian Service State’”? (Helena Blomberg/Christian Kroll) is of central importance. Actually, before we can talk about issues of the development of different welfare states (see below) we have to work on the same question inside each welfare state. How do the different areas/fields develop? Are there any comprehensiveness, convergence, and divergence? Can there trends be made out in regard of different actors? By what are such trends caused? Have some actors the power to set trends? Do other actors behave according to the psychological mechanism of self-fulfilling prophecy? Is the acceptance of market principles by welfare associations and governments alike perhaps overhasty? Many of similar questions could be added. What remains important here is that the great advantage of this volume is just this: instead of dealing with a wide field the authors go into details – thanks to a clear concept of the editors. The danger of overspecialisation is well avoided by the authors who set their contributions in the wider context. Furthermore the connection between empirical orientation and broader theoretical discussion is an important means in regard of this “setting into context”. For example Zsuzsa Ferge looks discusses under the title ‘And what if the state fades away?’ the question of ’The civilising process and the state’. What is interesting in the sociological perspective is that she arrives at a strong theses of power and control through the upper class by employing the work of Elias. However, at the same time she recognises the complex social fabric as entity: ‘In the hierarchically organised societies analysed by Elias the values, codes, norms, elements of “culture” which ultimately become the general social norms seem to evolve in the upper, most powerful strata. It should be repeatedly emphasised that the upper strata are not absolutely autonomous on this “travail”. The interaction among the various parts of society has probably always had an impact on the end-products – even though we do not know enough about these interactions and mutual influences. Because of the relations of domination, though, the results appear usually indeed as the product of the higher strata.’ (220) She goes on in analysing ‘Processes influencing “modern” civilisation to mark the increasing role of the state as answer on these challenges of modernisation. Confronted with the fading away of the states strong role or better its strong meaning and integrative function Zsuzsa Ferge states ‘It has already been suggested that the onset of a new decivilising process cannot be excluded on the level of (some) nation-states, or on the global level. Civilisations have collapsed before. Although the idea of the “end of civilisation” is put into inverted commas here, the dangers of “decivilisation” still loom large and seem to affect first those lastly reached. However, they appear to impact also on those who reject both all moral authorities and the enforced authority of the state.’ (233 f.) And in regard of poverty: ‘If the situation is similar to what it used to be 150 years ago, but the reaction is different, this must mean that the groups who felt themselves threatened and forced the state to obtain quiescence through the lot of poor now fell less threatened.’ (234) She sees today’s answer as superiority of the freedom of the rich. In this light we see that retrenchment strategies are far more than a fiscal issue and one of structures of welfarism. One could say that we are concerned with (the danger of) the revival of a strong Darwinism. Furthermore the introduction by Peter Taylor-Gooby has as well the function of drawing a line, which keeps the single contributions and their specialised orientation together. Here it is important that he points out ‘that transformation comes about not so much through dramatic and contested policy shifts as through the incremental effect of relatively minor changes which alter the “rules of the game” and the pattern of social interests.’ (6)

A question, which basically had not been dealt with in this publication, however, is the clear and explicit definition of the meaning of retrenchment. Its understanding is at least blurred and varies between cutbacks in the social sector, the variation of state intervention in the wider field (including for example the regulation of economic policies) and a complex and differentiated mode of soci(et)al integration.

But just the latter is of crucial importance in future sociological and political debate. One reason for this is the development of ‘European Societies’, namely the question of ‘Fusion or Fission?’ – thus title and subtitle of another book in the series ‘Studies in European Societies’ (III). The book is edited by Thomas P. Boje, Bart van Steenbergen and Sylvia Walby. It is worthwhile to mention en passant that the series is edited by the European Sociological Association – hopefully an indicator of increasing recognition of the European question by sociology. Thus it may change, what Göran Therborn states in the opening article, i.e. that ‘Europe has rarely, if ever, been taken as an empirical embodiment of a key theoretical concept or of a fascinating general process, nor as a challenge to our imagination of social construction.’ (19)

Now, as already said before we can talk about issues of the development of different welfare states we have to work on the same question inside each welfare state. If we then take a comparative perspective or, moreover, a perspective of a new, i.e. European perspective, there are basically three approaches, of which two are employed in this volume. The one is to put the analysis of a national system respectively of national problems or features into a wider, transnational context. The other is to look at a certain issue and to compare the status quo, experiences and developments in the member states. A third perspective is concerned immediately with the transnational system as far as it exists already or as far as the development can be made out. The reader can find all three perspectives in this volume, even if the latter is underrepresented.

The reason for this might be the fuzzy performance of the system. The traditional system of simple intergovernmental negotiations has been surmounted as well as the single, independent power of distinct nation states. However, the contours of a new system, of new mechanisms of negotiation, and not least of power structures are not yet fully developed. Due to their (as yet) ever-changing character it is not possible to draw a viable picture of their structuration. In methodological perspective it gets fundamentally clear that it is not possible to make out a clear dividing line between sociology and political sciences.

In a wider regard of the developing system structures Marlis Buchmann develops the thesis that ‘the ways in which particular characteristics of the European political institutions impede the development of feelings of solidarity and the formation of a sense of community that go beyond national frames of reference. In other words, I want to show that the functional, technocratic rationality, upon which the European political institutions rest, enhances the systemic integration of the European Community at the expense of its social integration.’ (55) This thesis is more or less the thread running through all contributions. However, what basically remains open is the question if and in case in which sense this is a feature of the process of European or of national developments. Buchmann points on the absence of a European public sphere, gender inequalities, (anti-) migrant politics and others are issued in other contributions. However, we find the most of these problems on the national level and the European dimension is just their repetition on a supranational level. In so far, we can speak of fusion. However, fusion here does not mean the emergence of a new entity. Instead, it is simply the parallel development without any – strong – original European meaning. In fact, this argument has a strong and longstanding tradition in social sciences concerned with European integration. Insofar the volume doesn’t bring much new insight. Innovative is, however, in connection with the integration theory the approach by Ute Gehard. She links the women’s (and new social) movement with the wider analysis of the bourgeois/civil society. ‘That is, bourgeois (and also civil?) society, which allies itself with freedom and equality for allpeople in its proclamations and principles, maintained inequality for women , and above all, women in the family as an immanent contradiction, legitimated by a social contract with a double foundation or “false bottom”. This exclusion was itself based not only on the separation of state and society, which served as liberalism’s constitutive moment, but also rested on a triple-tiered base in which the societal sphere that constituted a “bourgeois public” was again divided into a public and private realm.’ (110) It gets clear from the contribution that challenging this double foundation has to be the most important tasks of societal integration, indeed. This is true especially insofar as it combines the various aggregative levels (from the individual to whichever kind of “state” and, at the same time, the various “fields” as the subjective and the objective dimension of soci(et)al integration, the economic, social, cultural etc.

If the reality of diverging moments of current developments is a real and long lasting threat for such integrative processes has to be discussed. Even if several contributions outline the current situation in regard of Social exclusion, gender, nationalism and ethnicity or the transition and transformation in Central and Eastern Europe it remains unclear which role the European integration really plays and if we are dealing with long term trends or a short-range shift. Again, as the European dimension is only discussed as a feature of the more or less loosely coupled member states it is as well not properly set into perspective of an extended time frame.

At the end, the conclusion drawn so far by sociology is neither innovative nor especially relevant for soci(et)al practice – even if stated by a sociologist with widely accepted reputation. ‘My conclusion’ – thus writes Alain Touraine – ‘can now be presented succinctly. Europe, which has no political, social or cultural unity, which is a continent of internal diversity and oppositions, will exist, not as an heritage but as a project, to use the traditional opposition between the conflicting definitions of a nation given by Mommsen and Renan – not only if it is able to create a common currency or to acquire a political decision-making capacity but inasmuch as it favours a dialogue between intellectuals who contribute in different ways to define the central debates of our time: who can we combine unity and diversity, an open market regulated economy with the search for individual and collective identity?’ (261) – This, now, shows not only sociology’s nearness to political science but the nearness to ordinary every day’s politics alike – all three seem to get more and more stuck in a voluntary fallacy.

For sociology it is in any case, still, a long way to reach a transnational understanding of policy. Even if limited on social policy the following volume on ‘Transnational Social Policy’, edited by Catherine Jones Finer (XII) aims to give insight in its current state. Already at the outset of reasoning about the employed issues we are lead to a main difficulty – the confusion of the matter between transnational, international, supranational etc. To be clear, the confusion and blurring of borders is one of reality rather than one in theory. The volume at issue mirrors this issue by convening contributions with various references, namely development policy, Foreign Policy and Human rights, or the role of NGOs in transnational partnerships to name but a few.

Many of the single issues in the articles cannot be recalled often enough. For example Clare Short points on the huge and widening gap between wealth and poverty – ‘there are now 447 billionaires in the world, who own more wealth than the total income of the countries in which the poorest 50 per cent of people in the world live’ (6). Another example is the discussion of knowledge Communities by Steven Pinch, who marks a step away from technological determinism – ‘It follows from this perspective that the acceptance or rejection of particular ideas or technical innovations is to be found primarily in the social rather than the natural world. Consequently, it is argued that there is no inevitable, natural logic to the world, waiting to reveal itself.’ (105) This is not only concerned with technological or in a very strict sense economic issues but for example with questions of social politics alike. Thus it means the reopening of a political frame for shaping, arranging action.

Besides more or less singular insights two contributions are of special importance. The first is by Ramesh Mishra. Even if I have a certain aversion to highlight again and again the results of one of the well-known representatives with their high repute his contribution stands out compared with most of the others in this volume. The author wants to discharge the concept of of social rights and to employ, instead, a concept of social standards. While underpinning the benefit of the social rights approach for all societies as a whole he states ‘since the late 1970s, however, social rights have taken a beating both ideologically and in practice, at least in Anglo-Saxon countries. The basic weakness of social rights as a concept is that it is not at par with the other two rights, i.e. civil and political. Whereas these two are essentially procedural and can be institutionalised as universal human rights, social rights are substantive in nature … They raise issues of mobilizing and redistributing material resources. The bottom line is that the granting of social rights comes into conflict with economic and property rights, one of the basic rights in liberal capitalist societies.’ (34) The elaboration of this idea entails some interesting features, for instance the complex issue of the necessity of conceptualising poverty measurement as review of life courses and living conditions in a broader stance rather than the measurement of income. Nevertheless, even if the idea and the elaboration are interesting there is in my view some doubt about this concept. It is to some extent a rash opportunism in regard of the thesis of globalisation.

The second contribution of particular interest is the discussion of ‘Transnational Fundraising in a Good Cause: A North-South European Example’ by Catherine Jones Finer. This is the “story” of the Borrelli-Naples-Project”, an undertaking to tackle the problem of street children. A priest –Mario Borrelli – had run the project and the methods are described as innovative and adaptable to changing conditions. The whole time span from the start in 1950 is divided in three phases. However, the author is not so much interested in how street children are treated and how the organisation runs the project. This comes into view only insofar as the actual purpose of the article requires it. This actual interest is basically the analysis of the readiness of people in other countries to support – financially – this Italian project. The dependence of gaining support on personal contacts from the “host country” to potential donors from outside and the immediate opportunity to understand, even more: to see and “grasp” the work and its results seem to be of central importance even (and perhaps especially) in the endeavours of transnational fundraising at least foir a small project (this might change in cases of generally targeted efforts for example in cases of epidemics, famines or the like). The interesting point, however, is that the so called globalisation, the increasing openness of borders and finally the increasing means, opportunities and even practice of cross-border communication has not the effect of supporting the readiness of cross-border donation. On the contrary, the loss of the leading charismatic figure and his network of contacts mean at the same time the loss of international support (respectively its severe weakening. Set in a perspective on development oriented NGOs Catherine Jones Finer draws a pattern of four generations – summarised in a table (p. 94 – there further sources are mentioned), which is reproduced here:

One general issue should be kept in mind. The literature is of immediate relevance for the development not only of European social policy but as well of social work – be it as part of the first or as science and practice of its own right. A shortcoming is, however, that social work as profession or as social workers as individuals are rarely considered as important actors in the whole system. Basically the debate on (future) social policy lacks because of a somewhat reductionist approach of institutionalism and structuralism. Even in connection with the perspective of an increasing meaning of liberalism, economisation etc. it should be kept in mind that ‘the character of social work as a mutual, socialised undertaking becomes clearer. … Within this concept cooperation has to be organised, networking has to be undertaken and participation has to be co-ordinated. One of the reasons for the managerisation of social work over the last years has to be seen in the fact that the before mentioned coherence had not been taken into account.’ (Wolf Rainer Wendt: Gemischte Wohlfahrt [Mixed welfare]; in: Journal of Welfare Care (Blätter der Wohlfahrtspflege. Deutsche Zeitschrift für Sozialarbeit. Wohlfahrtswerk für Baden-Württemberg, Stuttgart in association with the Paritätischen Wohlfahrtsverband (Eds.); Stuttgart, Issue 11+12/1999: 233 – 238; here: 236) It remains an open question if the (stronger) consideration has to be a momentum of engaged social workers or if sociologists, political scientists should lay a stronger stress on respective issues. Important is, in any case, to overcome from both sides the divide or even the sometimes expressed hostility.

The Community Workers Co-operative in Ireland – New Address

First Floor. Unit 4. Tuam Road Centre. Galway. Phone: +353.(0)91.779030. Telecopie: +353.(0)91.779033. e-mail: cwc@iol.ie

EUropean Civil Society – EUropean Civil Dialogue. The future on the agenda

Up to a certain point during the process of EUropean Integration a widening gap between the talk of a Citizens Europe and the real recognition of citizens and their organisation had been characteristic. It is, of course, debatable if this really changed. What can be established, however, is a major push in regard of citizen participation and citizen recognition over the last years.

A first momentum, which showed real effect, had been the implementation of the programme policy with both participation and partnership as important pillar of the programme philosophy. Participation meant that those who had been target of the various programmes had been so as subjects rather than as objects. The principle of partnership meant that the institutional respectively the institutional pattern of implementing the programmes aimed on the inclusion of different entities and the basis of equal rights. Not least NGOs and somewhat informal grassroots networks should get the chance of being involved. This involvement aimed on the implementation of programme objectives but as well on giving the various actors a voice in political matters.

Of course, this was – and is as well today – the theory. Well, in theory, theory and practice are the same, but in practice they are not. Nevertheless, a first step had been done and even bad practice could be used for improving practice rather than as argument against involvement as such. In fact, this line of development, basically initialised by the EUC, is rather complex, indicating not least a very specific pattern of EUropean governance.

A second line of the development climbs around the late so-called (new) social movement. Taking up work of many NGOs now on the EU level indicates it. Mostly working as networks of national NGOs they are mostly constituted on the basis of the Belgium law (at the time and unchanged up to today the only legal basis for such “international NGOs”). The structure of financing depends in many cases on monies from the European Union – based on different budget lines. Having said this development climbs around the late so called (new) social movement has to be qualified. A central impulse came from the European Commission with the establishment of the European Anti-Poverty Network. Even if we can hold the thesis of grassroots movements we should not underestimate the meaning of this impulse. In fact it is not exaggerated to state that the EUC depended (and depends) on NGOs in a governance mechanism, which I termed on several occasions a politics passing the nation state [Politik am Nationalstaat vorbei. Meanwhile this pattern is more recognised under the heading of the multilevel process and connected especially with the Mannheim School around Beate Kohler-Koch.] What has be stated here is a rather contradictory picture. On the one hand many of these organisations have a strong position on the EU level – and even if they are financed mainly by the EU this control is not connected with exercising (immediate) political control (of course, a political control is given insofar as especially the EUC influences the issues discussed by the NGOs just by the power of political agenda setting). Representing insofar a grassroots movement other elements of such a movement have severe difficulties. Without such or similar funding it is difficult to work especially on the European level.

Meanwhile a third line of development ranks around the social services line. Here especially well established NGOs have their stronghold. Actually here several lines are crossing respectively a entanglement takes place, which might be the basis for the future of the sector, or at least we find here a strong intersection of the traditional orientation of building a European single market (with the four basic freedoms), the professionalised provision of [social] services as part of the performance of NGOs and the political interest of the Commission in obtaining information and the interest of NGOs to influence the political process (this takes place in various forms and comprises implementation of EU policies as political process at the one end and taking part in the process of negotiations at the other end. (Meanwhile this is a complex field of direct and indirect, formal and informal influxes, which cannot be developed here). The origin of this line is, correspondingly, threefold. The “political NGOs”, those mainly based in any kind of social movement in the understanding developed in the debate on the “new social movements” is one source. Another and probably more important one, is the lobbying of – especially the German – welfare associations as providers and strong advocates of a social services. In their view this provision is a cornerstone of the activities of the respective organisations. However, to do justice it has to be stressed that this strand of the movement cannot be taken as limited on this area of activities. Rather they see at least three functions of their own, namely to be agents of the common good, advocate for the needy, and providers of social services (see Self-image and Task on Non-Statutory Welfare in Germany. Presented by the Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft der Freien Wohlfahrtspflege e.V.. Presented by Manfred Ragati on April, 23^rd, 1997; Bonn). In nuce this concept is supported in perpetuum by the German government as part of the definition and legal definition of subsidiarity – the attitude can be found in other countries even without the strong legalistic character. Nevertheless, it can be said again that the principle of subsidiarity had been taken on board of the Maastricht Treaty and especially the declaration 23 on the cooperation between the EU and the charitable organisations thereof is a result of the German initiative and lobbying in this regard. The third source of backing this concept is coming from the European Institutions. A very strong line in the argument, here, is again the principle of subsidiarity – now defined mainly as nearness to the citizens. Probably of greater importance is, however, the debate on social services. We find a ambivalent and contradictory argumentation. On the one hand stands the support of an exclusively economic concept – thus the respective organisations would be part of a wider sector of service providers (in the social field) and as such they have to follow the laws of competitiveness. On the other hand it is well recognised that they provide more than services of a character which can be measured in simple economic terms. Furthermore, even if in all member states some kind of such welfare associations, charities, “social economic entities” and so on are to be found the concepts lying behind are very different, due to conditions which are shaped by the historical developments. NB: It has to be stressed that these historical and wider social embeddedness is not just concerned with these organisations but with shaping the whole social fabric. The one point of the argument is that the definition of productivity if it is solely lead by economic terms in a traditional sense is too short – such concepts simply fail to measure humaneness. The other point of the argument is that service provision is, indeed, only one performance. Because of their originally political character they cannot be left just to the market. Subsidiarity in the meaning of guaranteeing nearness and the meaning of the organisations as part of a process of communication are at the core. It would be interesting to discuss the ideological implications in regard of theories of “political markets” and the meaning of the market as instrument of communication in economic regards alike – this has to be left to another context and cannot be done here.

Hand in hand with the (quasi-)institutional steps – possibly they may be termed as (a) programme/project culture, (b) European social movement and (c) institutionalisation of co-operative structures – the political agenda had been (and still is) characterised by feeling for ways of politically meaningful implementation of the recognition of the organisations. It is one point to look at the strategies employed by the sector organisations – this is not at stake here and now. On the other side we find various attempts of the statutory bodies including the institutionalised Europe.

The two social policy forums (1996 and 1998) had been important not such much as for a in their own right but as framework to institutionalise a more or less strong relationship between the European Commission and the Platform of Social NGOs, an entity which had been constituted (by the European Commission) in connection with these fora. The concept of civil dialogue had been announced on the first forum by the then Commissioner for social affairs Padraig Flynn. The concept of putting a civil dialogue at the side of a social dialogue expressed another time some insecurity about what to do with this part of civil society. Furthermore it marked another split of social and economic policy – social (and political and thus civil) rights had not been (and are not) seen as part of an integrated system. Rather social policy seems to be once again stressed in its residual character. Another development cannot yet be said to be definite.

However, there are some good reasons to assume that the concept of such large-scale fora will be replaced by more specialised gatherings – perhaps the Birmingham ESF-forum can be seen as example for the future direction.

Thirdly the development of permanent negotiations and discussions between the Commission and the Platform of Social NGOs is another tentative and groping result of the attempts and the first steps of institutionalisation.

Fourth: it is worthwhile to mention that undertakings of the social economy, the NGOs etc. are now part of the portfolio of the Social policy-DG rather than being left to the DG for enterprises and tourism (this had been the case before the Prodi-Commission had taken over.

Fifth: After years of negotiations, efforts behind closed doors and feeling announcement finally a Social Services Observatory had been established mid/end of 1999 – in a way setting up this observatory can be seen as a (compromising) result of the various initiatives and powers in favour of a more meaningful, definite debate on this matter of social services and of the civil society organisations alike. As the name says it is concerned with social services which is striking insofar that it holds as a kind of substitute of a more generally oriented observatory on civil society organisations. What is striking as well is a generally observed accordance with the German concept of subsidiarity and welfare associations – an interpretation, which had been mentioned already in connection with the conference in Aachen (see our newsletter xyz – Verweis auf newsletter update re Aachen Konference)

Finally, the Commission drafted a paper on the future co-operation, titled ‘The Commission and Nongovernmental Organisations: Building a stronger partnership’ (according to Commissioner xyx the presentation of the final document is expected already for early 2000). This document lays stress on issues of funding, accessibility of financial means and questions of the formalisation of the negotiations. It is, in fact, to early for any assessment of the document. Nevertheless, it seems that besides some provisions ain favour for smaller NGOs the narrow orientation building a kind of European oligarchy is a real danger. – Of course, this list marks just some main points rather than presenting an exhaustive list.

This is a rough outline of the frame for some recent initiatives, which show an increasing interest in the sector and which might lead to a clearer definition of the future role of the organisations respectively the sector in question.

* The increasing interest in this policy matter by the European Commission – indicated by a strategy, which can be spelled out as stricter regulation of the relations between European institutions and the sector (organisations). What is characteristic is the following: In regard of the social dialogue the Commission rejected any attempts to interfere in the determination of the social partners, i.e. in laying down who would be recognised as social partner on either side. In regard of the social NGOs this is basically as well the case. However, the initiation of the Platform has to a certain extent a steering function (unequal to a function of political indoctrination and political steering/control – this kind of political influence, limited as it is, nevertheless exists, for example and most importantly by the agenda setting role of the Commission);

* This European interest in an activating and somewhat steering/controlling coincides with an increased interest in the sector on the national level. The UK and Ireland are just two examples of a hole and wide-ranging field of attempts to develop a more coherent approach to the sector. Ireland shows, at the same time, markedly a somewhat half-heartedly notion. On the one hand the meaning of such a (re-)structuration of governance is seen and accepted. This goes so far that there is even the participation of sector-organisations in the two main bodies respectively fora of a national dialogue, namely the National Economic and Social Forum and the National Economic and social Council. On the other hand, however, the insecurity in dealing with it has the consequence of delaying the issue again and again. A white paper of which the presentation is announced since the early 1990^s is yet under way and there is no really reliable information about the final date of presentation – recent experiences with the announced deadlines etc. made suspicious.

* The Economic and Social Council (ESC) joined the political institutions – or may we say powers – which show a particular and increased interest in the sector (organisations). After some opinions respectively own-initiatives meanwhile two main events took place, which show that the issue has left the stage of simply exchanging words. Of course, the events should not be overestimated. Nevertheless, they indicate not only that the ESC reflects the future role of the respective organisations. What is perhaps even more important is the fact that in this connection its own role is reflected as well. Interestingly there seem to be – again – some confusion about the difference and unity of social and civil dialogue (cf. Opinion on the Role and Contribution of Civil Society Organisations in Building Europe [own-initiative]; 22.-23. September 1999; see as well the communique de presse, reproduced below).

* Since some time already the NGOs on their own side re-define their own role. Here it is interesting that on the one hand there is a strong position to hold on to the diversity of the organisations and their respective variety in regard of tasks and activities. Nevertheless, at the same time we find a certain strategy of ingratiation. Many of the respective entities define themselves more and more in economic terms, stress their economic performance, mark their impact on the labour market etc. – to fulfil what they (rightfully) expect is expected from them. However, even if the expectation is right, it is of course more than doubtful if fulfilling it is the right strategy. It may well be that this will just end up in a Pyrrhic victory. An elaborated welfare mix (Evers) with its roots in the different historical and social traditions of the member states would deprave in a single minded “economistic” system of service provision. Customers with the necessary cash to represent a powerful market demand would be the target group rather than those who depend on help and those who require services which cannot measured in narrow economic terms.

Whatsoever the future role will be as it is envisaged by the (national and/or supranational) officials two remarks should be kept in mind:

* Even if the arguments point for many times in the direction of economic necessities and economic laws set by international competition it should never be forgotten that (a) we are in fact concerned with a political process and (b) the nation states still have distinct power to establish these political norms.

* Mainstreaming is in a term of the EU-diction, which is en vogue already since some time – though limited to the politics of equal opportunities. Meanwhile mainstreaming is being used more and more in regard other issues alike. Nevertheless, even if some changes have to be admitted in the area of NGOs/civil society organisations the recognition of the respective statutory entities it is still mainly a matter of in any way exceptional circumstances. As long as this is the case and NGOs are pushed on a kind of playing ground (projects, programmes, issue oriented events, conferences and similar) some reservations can be raised if the recognition is serious. Instead of such an ad-hoc-culture of participation a real break through will only be reached when the civil dialogue – with all its consequences of direct democracy – is as a matter of fact on the agenda. Current changes – as not least the so-called “welfare to work” programmes indicate in which direction the “welfare of the third type” strategy (Donzelot) leads. Participation is reduced on duties, consumerism and voluntarism (work obligations and “targeting” social benefits; economisation of services and opening to competition on the market; orientation on “new values”, individualisation etc.). All this is far away from a participative welfare culture in favour of the social excluded.

Notes:

* The above comment is mainly concerned with social NGOs, i.e. NGOs working in the field of social policy, social action, social work and the like. It should be mentioned that some peculiarities appear in regard of NGOs in other fields, especially in regard of environmental organisations.

* Some further information and details on the here only sketched steps can be found in the SOCIALmanagement. Magazin für Organisation und Innovation (Magazine for organisation and innovation); Editor: Gerhard Pfannendörfer; Baden-Baden: Nomos-Verlagsgesellschaft; issue 2/2000 – forthcoming). Information on this issue are discussed as well in Social Policy in the European Union (Sozialpolitik in der Europäischen Union); Rheinfelden/Berlin: Schäuble, 1997 and Cultures of Participation in the European Union. Nongovernmental Organisations in EU-member states (Partizipationskulturen in der Europäischen Union. Nichtregierungsorganisationen in EU-Mitgliedstaaten); Rheinfelden/Berlin: Schäuble Verlag, 1998; even if of course there the most recent developments could not be included. These documents provide as well some more details in regard of the sources.

"Le rôle et la contribution de la société civile organisée dans la construction européenne''

Comité économique et social. Communique de Presse No. 83/998. Bruxelles, le 15 octobre 1999

Ce n'est un secret pour personne'. l'Union européenne traverse une grave crise de confiance. A tort ou à raison, les citoyens européens ne se privent pas de lui reprocher son manque d'efficacité ni de pointer du doigt ses déficits démocratiques.

Dans ce contexte d' absence, mais aussi de volonté de renforcement de la proximité entre les institutions de I'UE et le citoyen, il est de plus en plus souvent fait appel à la ''société civile''. Mais que recouvre concrètement ce concept? C'est ce que le Comité économique et social européen a voulu expliciter dans son avis intitulé : ''Le rôle et la contribution de la société civile organisée dans la construction européenne''.

Remontant aux origines et parcourant l'évolution de la société civile, le Comité conclut que ''la société civile'' est un concept global et dynamique qui désigne toutes les formes d'action sociale d'individus ou de groupes qui n'émanent pas de l'Etat et qui ne sont pas dirigées par lui'.'

Tout en étant un concept étroitement lié à des développements historiques concrets dans diverses 'sociétés, le Comité estime néanmoins possible de dégager un certain nombre d'éléments clés qui permettent de caractériser le concept de ''société civile'' ; pluralisme, autonomie, solidarité, visibilité, participation, éducation, responsabilité et subsidiarité.

Selon le Comité, la société civile ''organisée'' peut quant à elle être définie de manière abstraite comme l'ensemble de toutes les structures organisationnelles dont les membres poursuivent des objectifs et des missions d'intérêt général et servent de médiateur entre les pouvoirs publics et les citoyens. Sur cette base, il considère comme acteurs de la société civile les partenaires sociaux, les organisations représentatives des milieux socioéconomiques, qui ne sont pas des partenaires sociaux au sens restreint, les ONG, les organisations de base et les communautés religieuses.

Les acteurs de la société civile se sont également organisés au niveau communautaire dans le cadre du processus d'intégration européenne. Leur caractéristique commune essentielle est leur fonction de médiateur, calquée sur le modèle national.

De multiples et diverses initiatives visant à créer les structures d'un dialogue social mais aussi à favoriser la mise en place d'un dialogue civil se voient mettre en place.

Initiatives qu'il convient d'encourager, afin que l'Europe acquière une visibilité politique source de transparence et s'appuie sur la coopération.

Il revient donc à la société civile de jouer un rôle important au niveau européen en apportant son concours à un discours public et démocratique. Dans ce contexte et du fait que les traités ont fait de lui le représentant de la société civile organisée au niveau européen, le Comité a un rôle particulier à jouer dans le renforcement du dialogue civil ets'assigne à cette fin une double tâche'. d'une part, promouvoir son rôle auprès des institutions communautaires et, d'autre part, mettre en place en son sein des structures qui permettront l'établissement d'un dialogue avec les acteurs de la société civile qui ne sont' pas représentés en son sein, apportant ainsi une contribution essentielle au développement du modèle de démocratie participative.

Cette structure serait appelée à développer un certain nombre d'initiatives, dans le cadre d'un plan d'action de la ''société civile organisée''. Parmi ces initiatives, le Comité envisage notamment l'organisation de manifestations et d'auditions, également en dehors du Comité, offrant ainsi une possibilité de participation à un large public, et la consolidation et le renforcement des contacts institutionnels.

Sur le plan extérieur, le Comité compte également renforcer sa contribution à la mise en place de structures de la société civile dans les pays n'ayant pas encore pu, ou du moins pas encore complètement, mettre en oeuvre le modèle social européen, et à la création dans les pays candidats à l'adhésion de structures similaires à lui ou aux Conseils économique et sociaux nationaux.

Of particular interest in the context of the debate and development of NGOs and their recognition in the context of EU-integration are the following events:

* Conference Valency and change in Welfare organisations in a merging Europe – their contribution to the development of a European society (17.12.99), held under the auspices of the Economic and Social Committee and organised by the Federal Ministry of Family, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth of the Federal Republic of Germany.
I want to take this opportunity to say many thanks to some of the organisers of the conference, namely (in alphabetical order) Mr. Georg Albers (Observatory for Development of Social Services in Europe, based at the Institut für Sozialarbeit und Sozialpaedagogik in Frankfurt/M.), Mr. Jean Pierre Faure (Economic and Social Committee. Brussels) and Mrs. Beate Holzer (Observatory for Development of Social Services in Europe, based at the Institut für Sozialarbeit und Sozialpaedagogik in Frankfurt/M.). The conceptualisation and realisation had provided the participants with an atmosphere for a productive debate).

* It is a somewhat funny coincidence that on the same day in December the first working group had it s constituting meeting, which works on the future of a fundamental rights charter (see previous issue of the Electronic newsletter).

*   Just in time for the before mentioned conference in Brussels the German Red Cross launched the publication of the report of the conference in Aachen (we reported in a previous issue). The title of the conference and the newly published report had been respectively is:
Organisations, Initiatives and Services in the Social Field – an Engine for Social Policy in Europe. Documentation. International Conference under the auspices of the German EU-Presidency 19^th to 21^st May 1999 in Aachen. Jointly supported by the Federal Ministry for Family Affaris, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, The European Commission, the Federal Organisation of Non Governmental Social Welfare Assocoiations (BAGFW), organised by the German Red Cross
Organisationen, Initiativen und Dienste im Sozialen Bereich – ein Motor der Sozialpolitik. Internationale Konferenz im Rahmen der deutschen EU-Ratspräsidentschaft vom 19. bis 21. Mai 1999 in Aachen. In gemeinsamer Trägerschaft des Bundesministeriums für Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend, der Europäischen Kommission, der Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft der Freien Wohlfahrtspflege durchgeführt vom Deutschen Roten Kreuz.
Organisations, initiatives et services dans le domaine social – un moteur de la politique sociale en Europe. Documentation. Conférence internationale organisée dans le cadre de la présidence allemande de l’Union européenne 19-21 mai 1999 Aix-la-Chapelle. Sous l’égide commune du Ministère fédéral de la Famille, des Personnes âgées, de la Femme et de la Jeunesse, de la Commission européenne, de l’Association fédérale des organismes indépendants d’aide sociale (BAGFW) organisée par la Croix-Rouge Allemande
For copies contact: Deutsches Rotes Kreuz. Friedrich Ebert Allee 71. FRG 53113 Bonn. Ph.: +49.(0)228.541-1280. Telecopie: +49.(0)228.541-1445. e-mail: jacobyj@drk.de

The year is young – and the human rights still wait to being realised

The Council of Europe released a calendar for the year 2000 – reminding us at the 56^th anniversary of the European Convention on Human Rights. The monthly pages each quote – in French and English the headlines of the Human Rights:

The calendar can be obtained from the Council of Europe, Human rights section: HumanRights.Info@coe.int

The wider Europe

It is a somewhat strange mechanism to hold to a limited view on something that is – allegedly – reachable or even safe and to forget about the wider context. The sparrow in the hand seems to be better than the pigeon on the roof. In more current terms it seems to be the EU, which seems to be for many in the position of sparrow. To a certain degree this is, of course, understandable and pardonable. Nevertheless, Europe is far more. And this is of growing importance because the EU is not just an administrative entity. Instead it is a political one and there is the danger that problems from beyond are overlooked and, moreover, that the fortress EUrope is made possible just by this neglect. In other word, closing the borders is the one side only; the other might well be (and is already) the externalisation of social problems, their export. Just for this reason it should be seen that we still and even more need visions – neither the sparrow nor the pigeon will safeguard a basically democratic and social Europe and world. For this reason we have to point on some important documents from/on the wider Europe, documents from the Conseil de l’Europe – leaving a further presentation and discussion aside respectively giving only brief comments is just due to the limitations of the Institute’s capacity. (The documents are listed randomly – not least to give a incentive to reflect the broad approach which is necessary to develop real visions.)

* Activities of the Council of Europe in the Migration field. Information document prepared by the Secretariat. Strassbourg, 24.9.1998. CDMG (98) 2 E
Despite substantial information on various projects and initiatives the reader can find sources for further investigation.

* Steering Committee on Social Policy: The initial and further training of social workers taking into account their changing role. Co-ordinated research programme in the social field (1994 – 1995). Strassbourg. CDPS (97) 21

* Joint specialist group on Migration, Cultural Diversity and Equality of women and men. Final Report of Activities. Strassbourg. EG/MG (96) 2 rev.

* Steering Committee on Social Policy – Childhood Policies Project: Migration. Texts adopted by Parliamentary Assembly and the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe: Childhood Policies. Strassbourg. CDPS CP (96) 4

* Steering Committee on Social Policy – Childhood Policies Project: Street children. Co-ordinated research programme in the social field (1992 – 1993). Study group on street children. Strassbourg. SO-COORD I (94) Report

* Steering Committee on Social Policy – Childhood Policies Project: Health. Texts adopted by Parliamentary Assembly and the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe: Childhood Policies. Strassbourg. CDPS CP (96) 5

* Report and Proceedings of the Joint Council of Europe and UNICEF Expert Seminar on: Street Chrildren, violence and sexual abuse: Challenges for Social work. Held at West University of Timisoara on 1-3 July 1997. CDPS/IX/ROM (97) 2

* Steering Committee on Social Policy – Childhood Policies Project: Social Protection, Family Policies. Texts adopted by Parliamentary Assembly and the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe: Childhood Policies. Strassbourg. CDPS CP (96) 3

* Social protection in the European Social Charter. Study compiled on the basis of the case law of the European Committee of Social Rights. Monograph no. 7. Strassbourg 1999

* Equality between women and men in the European Social Charter. Monographs, 2. Strassbourg 1999
Document-compilations like several of the above mentioned as well as the before listed monographs (liable to pay) clearly indicate that EU-Europe as well is far from being a prig in matters of human rights.
In addition it is important to see especially the monographs in connection with the previously discussed European Social Model (see this issue of the update and the previous one) and in connection with the current respectively future discussion on a European Charter on fundamental rights, as agreed in Cologne and Tampere.

* Acticities of the Council of Europe with Relevance to Combating Racism and Intolerance. European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI). Strasbourg. September 1999 (CRI [99] 56 final.)

It has to be admitted that, even if not in a sufficient manner, some of the problems are more and more recognised as a matter of EU policymaking. And it should be added that there is still the unfulfilled requirement that social professions take sees these questions seriously and immediately on board rather then leaving them as a more exotic realm.

Of relevance in the view on a wider Europe is not least the question of multiculturalism. With this we are looking at the living conditions of people from the so-called Third Countries and as well we are immediately in the centre of the debate on fundamental rights. A valuable source is the Siena Group Report Monitoring Multicultural Societies, edited by Jacqueline Bühlmann, Paul Röthlisberger und Beat Schmid from the Swiss Federal Statistical Office.

The report compiles country reports, kept together by an introduction and bringing together the individual results and interpreting them in a wider context. Basically (some variation allowed) a common guideline for the country studies is an outline following points and looking at the respective indicators: Structure of multicultural societies, (economic and demographic dimensions), economic living conditions (e.g. housing), access to resources (economic, education, political power, social networks etc.), values, integration and conflict behaviour, attitudes, images. – The observed countries are Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland.

To point on selected and isolated results would be unjust – it would neglect other interesting results and – mainly – it would be not correct in methodological terms. What is decisive is the complete, multidimensional picture to which the single results add up. Otherwise, one misses easily the point if one leans upon single data: ‘the frequently polemic nature of the discussions means that multiculturalism is often interpreted all too laxly, thus frustrating efforts to clarify the concept. Consequently, it is hardly surprising that multiculturalism is often used as a cloak to cover phenomena that do not belong together and call for separate treatment.’ (328) Seemingly paradoxically it is necessary to draw the complete picture first to recognise later the single facet’s. In this way the national studies and the competing final summary gibe not least a clear picture of immigration policies and its meaning for the later efforts of integration, acceptance and – just – multiculturalism. In regard of migrants it can be summarised that

* the respective people ‘are at tremendous disadvantage compared with nationals on the labour market.’

* Even if such disadvantages diminish with the length of stay they never disappear completely.

* Another important factor are the differences between groups of migrants – the pattern behind the different status of migrant groups clearly reflects the felt European or even respective national “superiority”, thus indicating the pattern, which was supposed to be overcome since years, i.e. the pattern of imperialism and “Herrenrasse” – the “race of the master”

* ‘The interplay of job, housing and educational integration is the social sphere within which segregational tendencies in respect of immigrants take firm root.’ (quotes from p 333)

What remains a little bit worrying about the report is that multiculturalism is mainly approached from an angel of integrating migrants in existing systems without basically scrutinise just the limitations of the systems itself. In other words it remains undiscussed if and in case how the ‘mainstream system’ has to adapt to the needs and way of life of the migrants. However, only such an approach would mean that – to put it more sociologically – the stranger overcomes his/her status as stranger and the known, the settled is forced – and moreover gets and accepts the opportunity to scrutinise his seemingly imperturbable social position. As said this sweeping alternative perspective is neglected. One consequence is that the role of the state is in many cases seen in a light, which is by far too bright.

All in all it is shown again that we are – in all considered countries – far from real multiculturalism. What we find at best is a more or less incoherent coexistence of different cultures. This volume provides us with valuable and thoroughly researched data to work further on this issue in the scientific field, in the field of social politics and not least in regard of concrete actions in the social field (social work etc.).

Monitoring Multicultural Societies. A Siena Group Report. Jacqueline Bühlmann, Paul Röthlisberger und Beat Schmid from the (Eds.). Neuchâtel: Swiss Federal Statistical Office, 1998

Contact: Paul Röthlisberger, SFSO. Ph: 0327136787. FAX (for orders): 0327136061

Neue Möglichkeiten für Chancengleichheit

Familienkompetenzen als Potential einer innovativen Personalentwicklung

In einem neuen Projekt werden seit Juni 1999 am DJI im Auftrag der EU und des BMFSFJ mit Partnern aus Großbritannien und den Niederlanden sowie der KAB e.V. modellhafte Vorgehensweisen entwickelt, wie Familienkompetenzen für Betriebe nutzbar gemacht werden können.

Neuere Strukturen in der Arbeitswelt, bedingt durch den technischen und organisatorischen Wandel, führen zu immer schnellerem Veralten herkömmlicher technisch-fachlicher Qualifikationen. Überfachliche Qualifikationen – Konzepte der Schlüsselqualifikationen und des Lebenslangen Lernens – gewinnen dadurch ebenso wie soziale Kompetenzen nicht nur im Anforderungsprofil hochqualifizierter Tätigkeiten stetig an Gewicht. Auch Strategien der Personalentwicklung bis hin zu den Entgeltsystemen beginnen – wenn auch nur zögerlich - dem Rechnung zu tragen.

Damit geraten informelle Lernprozesse und Lernorte stärker ins Visier von Theorie und Praxis der Kompetenzentwicklung. Die Familie als wesentlicher ausserbetrieblicher Lebensmittelpunkt wird jedoch erst in Ansätzen als Lernort für Betrieblich nutzbare Kompetenzen erfasst und eher als Ursache für Leistungsdefizite und Kompetenzverluste angesehen.

Dabei vermittelt Familienerfahrung durchaus arbeitsplatzrelevante Kompetenzen, und zwar unabhängig davon, OL sie gleichzeitig neben der Erwerbsarbeit oder zeitweise ausschließlich gewonnen werden. Diese Kompetenzen entsprechen dem breiten Aufgabenspektrum familiärer Tätigkeiten und schließen neben sozialen Kompetenzen planende und koordinierende Funktionen analog zu Managementaufgaben ein. Träger dieser Kompetenzen Sind vor allem Frauen/Mütter, sie finden Sich allerdings ebenso bei der wachsenden Minderheit von partnerschaftsorientierten Vätern, die sich praktisch im Familienalltag und bei der Kindererziehung engagieren. Unternehmen, die Familientätigkeit als Ort der Kompetenzvermittlung nicht wahrnehmen, berauben sich somit eines Potentials betrieblich notwendiger Fähigkeiten und Fertigkeiten.

In der Forschung gibt es bisher nur wenige Ansätze, die die gegenseitige Wechselwirkung der Bereiche Familie und Arbeitswelt im Blick haben und nach den möglichen Auswirkungen und Konsequenzen fragen. Vorar- Leiten zu dem Thema haben jedoch gezeigt, dass aufgeschlossene Unternehmen und die Fachöffentlichkeit für dieses Thema sehr wohl Interesse zeigen. Hier setzt das Forschungsprojekt an: Mit Partnern aus Großbritannien (Fair-plav Yorkshire and Humber TECS) und den Niederlanden (Prof. Van Doorne-Huiskes, Utrecht) sollen modellhafte Vorgehensweisen entwickelt werden, wie Familienkompetenzen für Betriebe nutzbar gemacht werden können. Dazu werden in ausgewählten Betrieben die nachgefragten Qualifikationsprofile, insbesondere die ''weichen'' Kompetenzen ermittelt. Im Rahmen von Arbeitsplatzbeschreibungen und den dazugehörigen Qualifikationsprofilen sollen Aspekte von familialen Kompetenzen aufgenommen werden; außerdem wird ein Qualifikationshandbuch zur Bilanzierung persönlicher Kompetenzen erstellt. Ebenso wird eine sog. Präsentationsmappe für Betriebe erarbeitet, die die Wahrnehmung für informelle Kompetenzen aus Familientäigkeit schärfen und zur weiteren Befassung mit diesem Thema motivieren soll.

Zielsetzung ist es, praxistaugliche Methoden zur Identifizierung, Validierung und Zertifizierung zu entwickeln, damit betriebliche Modernisierungsstrategien mit Perspektiven der beruflichen und gesellschaftlichen Gleichstellung von - Frauen und Männern, die in familiäre Arbeit eingebunden Sind, verknüpft werden können. Das könnte auch bedeuten, die durch Erziehungszeiten begründeten Erwerbsunterbrechungen, aber auch Phasen von familienbedingter Teilzeitarbeit mit Blick auf die berufliche Biographie nicht mehr als “Fehlzeiten“, sondern als “Qualifizierungszeiten“ zu bewerten. Zielgruppen des Projektes sind Somit Personalverantwortliche aus unterschiedlichen Branchen und Unternehmenstypen, einschließlich des öffentlichen Sektors, sowie die erwerbstätigen bzw. im Erziehungsurlaub befindlichen Mütter und Väter. Darüber hinaus wird die Verankerung der Leitidee ''Familienkompetenzen'' in der (weiter)bildungspolitischen Debatte sowie in der tarif-beschätigungs- und gleichstellungspolitischen Diskussionen zunehmend wichtig.

Aus: DJI Bulletin. Die regelmäßige Information des Deutschen Jugendinstituts. Heft 48/Oktober 1999: 4

Statistics

On average, women earn 25 % less than men

This is the conclusion of a survey on full-time employees [in all sectors of the economy, with the exception of agriculture, education, health, personal services and public administration.] conducted in the EU by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities.

These averages reflect structural differences: women and men do not hold the same posts. In the population surveyed, one third of the women are office employees as against only 10 % men; 47 % men are workers as against 18 % women and, on average, manual workers are better paid than white-collar workers. Women who work are younger on average: 44 % are under 30 years old as against 32 % for men. Fewer older women work and many women stop work to bring up their children. Thus women tend to have less seniority and are less likely to hold management posts.

Lastly, education levels vary: 51 % of women did not go beyond primary or secondary education – men 29 %; 36 % of men completed secondary (technical) education – 29 % of women.

But even if the salary differences in groups of people with the same characteristics in statistical terms are studied, women are systematically less well paid. The salary gap stands at about 15 %. For example, in the category “senior management” the inequality is particularly striking in 10 of the 15 Member States because “there are very few women at the highest level of the hierarchy”. The report also refers to the differences in overtime paid mainly to manual workers – men in the majority – while the staff in the retail trade where pay is low consists mostly of women.

Gross salaries for women as a % of salaries for men [Statistics for 1995, except for France (1994) and Austria (1996). As structural diffrerence change very slowly, these figures should reflect the present situation.]

(Taken from: Women of Europe. July/August 1999. no. 87. Ed: Olga Profili. Head of Section. Information for women. DG X of the EUC.

Very helpful in the production of this issue had been Jon Erving and Patricia O’Brien during their work at ESOSC – Thank you very much!

If not stated otherwise: Peter Herrmann. European Social, Organisational and Science Consultancy. The Jasnaja Poljana. Clonmoyle. ©Aghabullogue. County Cork. Ireland. Reproduction is welcomed and a copy, sent to the Institute appreciated.

Edition: 1 / 2000

SOCIAL EXCLUSION