Towards social investment and social innovation in EU member states? First observations of recent developments in Austria

Description

From an analytical point of view, social policy instruments may be clustered around three paradigms: 'Elephants', conceptualised as the nurturing state that not only targets old social risks but also provides more universal services in the realms of health and housing. 'Lions', also referred to as 'social investment', 'active social policy' or 'productive social policy', highlighting preventative policies and investment in human capital that aim at preparing people for changing demands on the labour market. Finally, 'butterflies', also known as 'social innovation', cover projects that usually target new social risks and unmet social needs and are provided bottom-linked by NGOs at a small scale and for a limited period of time. If proved successful, butterflies should ideally become fully fledged social policies. Whereas the latter two paradigms figure prominently in EU discussions and are rendered as important components of the European social model, not least against the background of the crisis, they are to different degrees identified or even adopted within member states. More specifically, in Austria, the concepts of social investment and social innovation appear to have been largely ignored by politics and the public administration. The perspective of social investment, however, has recently been taken up by some researchers and interest groups, while the idea of social innovation is increasingly being promoted by industry, the media and civil society.

Period	9 Oct 2014 → 10 Oct 2014
Event title	Wiss. Konferenz: Towards Inclusive Employment and Welfare Systems: Challenges for a Social Europe
Event type	Unknown
Degree of Recognition	International