The IMF and a new global politics of inequality?

This paper addresses a simple, and largely empirical, research question: is the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) recent high level commitment to reducing inequality translated into concrete action in its dealings with member states? Addressing this research question is significant in several respects. First, the high level rhetorical commitment to reduce inequality might be seen as paradoxical because the IMF, alongside other institutions of global economic management, has long been criticised for its role in promoting economic reform in member countries, partly on the basis that this increases inequality (Peet et al. 2009; Kentikelenis et al. 2016: 550-1). It is therefore important to assess the extent to which recent pronouncements on inequality by the Fund suggest a change in emphasis or a genuine institutional commitment. Second, addressing the question contributes to a contemporary academic literature on more technical aspects of how we should understand and interpret IMF policy advice and conditionality. This literature currently focusses on a range of aspects of IMF policy advice, but does not address the recent interest of the Fund in inequality. The paper addresses this lacuna.N/

HS2 skills and employability strategic framework – fast track to inclusive growth across the East Midlands.

East Midlands Councils, D2N

Neoliberalisation, fast policy transfer and the management of labor market services

Neoliberalism has been a core concern for IPE for several decades, but is often ill-defined. Research offering greater definitional clarity stresses the role of contingent and local level factors in diverse processes of neoliberalisation. This paper contributes to that literature, addressing a surprising gap in critical IPE knowledge; the management practices by which pressures to activate the unemployed and to make them more competitive, are implemented. The paper suggests that performance management, is significant as both a depoliticising policy coordination mechanism and a highly politicised policy implementation practice. The paper invokes a scalar-relational approach which sees the pressure to innovate and compete at lower scales as driven by the political economy of competitiveness at the system scale. The paper reports on research undertaken within the empirical frame of EU meta-governance, showing how performance management is part of lower-scale attempts to adapt to system-scale pressures. It is neoliberalising in both form and content. It concludes by showing that while performance management may be a significant component of neoliberalisation there is scope for engagement and contestation motivated by egalitarian ideals. Critical IPE scholars interested in contesting neoliberalisation should therefore engage with the political economy of management practice as well as policy design.N/

PES to PES dialogue The European Commission mutual learning programme for public employment services.

European Commissio

Do employment services need to be neoliberal

There is a divide in the literature on labour market governance between that which sees ‘workfare’ policies as part of a process of neoliberalisation and a more practice-oriented literature that is concerned with the effectiveness and outcomes of ‘active labour market policies’. This chapter engages with these separate but related literatures to make the argument that the trajectory of policy and practice reform in employment services has been inherently neoliberalising over recent decades, and that there is scope to repurpose some of the processes and tools that have been involved in this to more inclusive ends. The chapter proposes that the materialist feminist concept of social reproduction offers one lens through which a more inclusive approach to employment service delivery and management can be viewed. The discussion is tailored to the ways that both national policymakers, local and lower-level implementers and progressive activists may promote a more inclusive form of employment service through their ‘policy work’.N/

The role of skills: from worklessness to sustainable employment with progression : UK Commission for Employment and Skills Evidence Report no. 38

This study is shaped by the recognition that while there has been a great deal of policy development around the transition from unemployment and inactivity to employment over the last decade, policy can still be informed about how best to nurture sustainable employment for those at risk of labour market exclusion. There remain challenges associated with, for example, the cost-effectiveness of intervention, the „low pay no pay‟ cycle and access to training. As a consequence, the opportunities for sustainable progression, upward social mobility and alleviating poverty remain unrealised for many workers in lower paid occupations. The methodology underpinning this study is predominantly based on a literature search and review of the research and evidence base post 2005. This is supplemented with the development of four international case studies (Australia, Denmark, Germany, United States contained in a separate annex) and an e-consultation with country experts

Contested cultures of care: research with and for the plus one community on the plus one experience - evaluation report

Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Collaborative Outreach Projec

The role of skills from worklessness to sustainable employment with progression

This study is shaped by the recognition that while there has been a great deal of policy development around the transition from unemployment and inactivity to employment over the last decade, policy has not been sufficiently informed about how best to nurture sustainable employment for those at risk of labour market exclusion. The review focused on evidence from 2005: it provides a review of data, UK and international literature and, incorporates findings from four international case studies ( Australia, Germany, Denmark and the United States. The report provides an overview of the economic context for low pay and low skilled work and highlights the need for a continuing commitment to promoting opportunities in the labour market as a means of progression and alleviating poverty and encouraging social mobility. The report argues that there is an inextricable link between skills and ‘better jobs’. The authors conclude that a long-term view is required to decide how best to support someone at the point of worklessness: to address employability barriers in the short-term; and prepare the individual to retain, and progress in, employment. The concept of career is explored as a framework for progression: a combination of career guidance, a career / personal development plan and career management skills are identified as tools to raise aspiration and enable individual’s to take action once they are in work to support their own progression. Thinking about the workplace, the report reviews the evidence on the role of job design, line management and progression pathways in facilitating workplace learning as a route to progression

Research on making the most of HS2 investments and connectivity in the EM Labour Market.

East Midlands Councils, D2N2 LE