Globalization, Welfare Reform and the Social Economy: Developing an Alternative Approach to Analyzing Social Welfare Systems in the Post-Industrial Era

Authors

Vanna Gonzales, Arizona State University

Keywords

Globalization, welfare reform, welfare networks, the Third sector, social enterprises, social inclusion, social justice

Abstract

Our understanding of the relationship between globalization and contemporary social welfare systems is heavily influenced by three conventional approaches to studying welfare reform: the political economy, moral economy, and mixed economy approaches. In addition to analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of each of these approaches, a central aim of this article is to introduce the social economy approach as an emergent alternative. Drawing from a growing body of work on institutional innovation within the European third sector, I argue that the social economy approach makes a valuable contribution to understanding the role of welfare networks in reconfiguring globalizations' impact on the character and quality of social provision so as to better reconcile social efficacy with social justice.

Recommended Citation

Gonzales, Vanna (2007) "Globalization, Welfare Reform and the Social Economy: Developing an Alternative Approach to Analyzing Social Welfare Systems in the Post-Industrial Era," The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare: Vol. 34: Iss. 2, Article 12.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15453/0191-5096.3256
Available at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jssw/vol34/iss2/12