247 research outputs found

    Precarious education-to-work transitions: entering welfare professions under a workfarist regime

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    This article looks at the process of education-to-work transitions in female-dominated welfare professions within the Slovenian post-crisis context marked by a workfarist agenda. It departs from a scholarship that conceptualises precarity as a transitional vulnerability and disaffiliation exacerbated by workfarist policies to explore the contemporary experience of those trying to achieve professional integration under a volatile workfarist regime. The findings reveal a mismatch between established regulations for early career recruitment and professional licensing and the actual chances on the labour market to meet these requirements through available workfarist non-standard entry-level jobs/schemes designed for particular status and/or socio-demographic groups. It gives new evidence that European workfare regimes exacerbate precarity and a novel understanding of state-manufactured precarization as an intersectional process of marginalization and discrimination that not only hinders integration into welfare professions, but also downloads the costs of social reproduction on the next generation, causes precarious aging and widens intersectional differences

    The quality of different types of child care at 10 and 18 months. A comparison between types and factors related to quality.

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    The quality of care offered in four different types of non-parental child care to 307 infants at 10 months old and 331 infants at 18 months old was compared and factors associated with higher quality were identified. Observed quality was lowest in nurseries at each age point, except that at 18 months they offered more learning activities. There were few differences in the observed quality of care by child-minders, grandparents and nannies, although grandparents had somewhat lower safety and health scores and offered children fewer activities. Cost was largely unrelated to quality of care except in child-minding, where higher cost was associated with higher quality. Observed ratios of children to adults had a significant impact on quality of nursery care; the more infants or toddlers each adult had to care for, the lower the quality of the care she gave them. Mothers' overall satisfaction with their child's care was positively associated with its quality for home-based care but not for nursery settings

    Researching the gender division of unpaid domestic work: practices, relationships, negotiations, and meanings

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    The paper focuses on the potential of quantitative research methods for sociologists who research the gender division of unpaid domestic work. To begin, it reflects on the emergence of the sociological interest in unpaid domestic work and identifies an early core concern with making invisible work visible. It is argued that quantitative research methods provide us with the most valuable opportunities for ‘recognising’ unpaid domestic work since they facilitate larger scale representative projects. However the data in most of the large scale surveys are scant, and fail to reflect developments in the conceptualisation of unpaid domestic work. Four areas of concern to contemporary sociology are identified: domestic work practices, relationships, negotiations and meanings. Given the complex questions that these four sub- topics raise, the paper proposes a range of sub-areas as a focus for ongoing sociological research into unpaid domestic work. It is concluded that despite the methodological challenges presented, detailed indicators of the multiple dimensions of unpaid domestic work need to be agreed so that valid information can be collected as routinely in large scale surveys as are those on paid work

    LA DETERMINACIÓN DEL “ELEMENTO HISTÓRICO Y MORAL” DEL VALOR DE LA FUERZA DE TRABAJO

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    El objetivo de este artículo es discutir la interpretación marxista dominante respecto del significado de lo que Marx llamó el “elemento histórico y moral” del valor de la fuerza de trabajo y ofrecer una lectura alternativa que sea consistente con los fundamentos de la crítica marxiana de la economía política. Para tal fin, en la primera parte del artículo, se realiza una crítica de dicha interpretación basada en el reconocimiento de su génesis histórica y su filiación con la base textual y fundamentos de la crítica marxiana de la economía política. En la segunda parte, se realiza una reconstrucción crítica del legado de Marx respecto a la determinación del valor de la fuerza de trabajo y se presenta una resignificación del elemento histórico y moral en cuestión. A DETERMINAÇÃO DO “ELEMENTO HISTÓRICO E MORAL” DO VALOR DA FORÇA DE TRABALHOO objetivo deste artigo é discutir a interpretação marxista dominante sobre o significado do que Marx chamou de “elemento histórico e moral” do valor da força de trabalho e oferecer uma leitura alternativa atrelada aos fundamentos da crítica marxiana da economia política. Para tanto, na primeira parte do artigo, realizamos uma crítica da interpretação acima citada, baseada no reconhecimento de sua gênese histórica e sua filiação com a base textual e com os fundamentos da crítica marxiana da economia política. Na segunda parte, realizamos uma reconstrução crítica do legado de Marx quanto à determinação do valor da força de trabalho e apresentamos uma ressignificação do elemento histórico e moral em questão.Palavras-chave: Elemento histórico e moral. Valor da força de trabalho. Debates marxistas. Teoria marxista do salário.THE DETERMINATION OF THE “HISTORIC AND MORAL ELEMENT” OF THE VALUE OF LABOUR POWERThe aim of this article is to challenge the prevailing Marxist interpretation of what Marx called the “historical and moral component” of the value of labour-power, and to offer an alternative reading which is consistent with the foundations of the critique of political economy. In order to do so, the first part of the article develops a critique of the aforementioned Marxist view, on the basis of a reconstruction of its historical genesis, its support on textual evidence from Marx’s works and its theoretical consistency with the foundations of the critique of political economy. Subsequently, the second part of the article undertakes a critical reconstruction of Marx’s legacy on the determination of the value of labour-power and proposes a reconsideration of the meaning of its socalled “historical and moral” component.Keywords: Historical and moral element. Value of labour-power. Marxist debates. Marx’s theory of wages.LA DÉTERMINATION DE L “ÉLÉMENT HISTORIQUE ET MORAL” DE LA VALEUR DE LA FORCE DE TRAVAILL’objectif de cet article est de discuter de l’interprétation marxiste dominante de ce que Marx appelait “l’élément historique et moral” de la valeur de la force de travail et d’offrir une lecture alternative liée aux fondements de la critique marxienne de l’économie politique. Pour ce faire, dans la première partie de l’article nous critiquons l’interprétation susmentionnée, fondée sur la reconnaissance de sa genèse historique et son affiliation à la base textuelle et aux fondements de la critique marxienne de l’économie politique. Dans la deuxième partie, nous effectuons une reconstruction critique de l’héritage de Marx concernant la détermination de la valeur de la force de travail et nous y présentons une nouvelle signification de l’élément historique et moral en question.Mots-clés: Elément historique et moral. Valeur de la force de travail. Débats marxistes. Théorie marxiste du salaire

    Local knowledge, local learning and predicting election outcomes : voter assessments of likely party success in Scotland's constituencies at the 2015 and 2017 general elections

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    Political scientists often debate how much information people have and deploy when making electoral decisions. Some scholars suggest that voters are aware of which party is likely to win in their local constituency at British general elections; however, this might not be the case in situations when there is substantial and spatially varying change in the relative fortunes of two or more parties between elections. That argument is evaluated here using as a case study the 2015 and 2017 general elections in Scotland: at the first, the SNP's vote share more than doubled, and it won 56 of the country's 59 seats, having won just six at the previous contest; at the second, its vote share fell by about a third, and it lost 21 of those 56 seats. Analysis of British Election Survey data collected before and during the campaigns preceding those elections shows that most respondents were aware of the SNP's surge in 2015 and expected their victory in every constituency. In 2017, most voters were aware which of the SNP's three competitors was the biggest threat in each constituency, and that awareness became clearer during the campaign; yet, voters – especially those who identified with the SNP and were contacted by it during the campaign – still (incorrectly) anticipated a local SNP victory

    Feminist Economics, Setting out the Parameters

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    ___Introduction___ Feminist economics has developed its position over the past decade, towards a firmer embeddedness in economic science and a source of inspiration for activists, policy makers, and social science researchers in a wide variety of fields of research. This development has come about in a relatively short period of time, as is reflected, for example, in the follow-up book of the feminist economic primer Beyond Economic Man (Ferber/Nelson 1993), published ten years later: Feminist Economics Today (Ferber/Nelson, 2003) The strengthened position of feminist economics also shows in the 10-year anniversary of the prize-winning journal Feminist Economics, the flourishing of the International Association for Feminist Economics (IAFFE), as well as the more regular demand for feminist economic policy advise by institutions like the UN, OECD and governments in developed and developing countries, and in well-established training courses in feminist economics, such as at the Institute of Social Studies and University of Utah . It is impossible to give a fair overview of the state of the art of feminist economics in the number of pages available, even when limited to issues pertaining to development and macroeconomics . As a consequence, this is a very sketchy and subjective overview of what I perceive to be recent developments in feminist economics that have relevance for feminist development analysis and policy. The next section recognizes three trends in feminist economics, in particular the engagement of feminist economists with heterodox schools of economics. The following sections will briefly review developments in methodology and methods in feminist economics. These will be followed by three sections on topics that have recently become key themes or areas of research in feminist economics, in particular in the area of development economics: unpaid labour and the care economy; the two-way relationship between gender and trade; and gender, efficiency and growth. Each of these topics will be introduced, with references to the main literature, and some links to policy recommendations. The paper will end with a conclusion
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