SOCIAL POLICY REFORM IN ALBANIA STUCK IN TRANSITION
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.2478/subbs-2022-0004Keywords:
welfare, state, poverty, inclusion, social justiceAbstract
This article provides an analysis of social policy regarding social protection of vulnerable groups in Albania, by screening whether the welfare state has responded to the varying needs of socially excluded citizens. The scope is to explore how the consecutive reforms of social policy have addressed the social effects of poverty and social exclusion. The analysis delves into the welfare policy official documents to discover how the vulnerable groups needs are addressed and what is the impact of policymakers, service providers, and service users on social policy shape. Social policy reforms developed after the totalitarian regime and have promoted familialism and gender regime, which have reinforced gender stereotypes of women as primary caregivers and have denied them equal access and full participation in the free labour market. During the transition period, the reforms faced conceptual barriers delaying their application. The minimalist approach of social policy offered insufficient protection to vulnerable citizens from the adversities of life. Social care services for children, elderly and people with disabilities suffer from a persistent lack of funding. The social welfare is offered through few social services provided from civil society. Due to the lack of social care services, the users of the welfare state lack the substantial means for inclusion. The welfare state policies need a reformation to offer decent economic aid and social care services.References
Baldock, J. (2007). Social Policy, Social Welfare, and the Welfare State. In J. Baldock, N., Manning, and S. Vickerstaff (Eds.), Social Policy. (3rd ed). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Beck, U. (1992). Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity. London: Sage.
Béland, D., Morgan, K. J., Obinger, H. and C. Pierson (2021). Introduction. In D. Beland,
K. J. Morgan, H. Obinger and C. Pierson (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Welfare State (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press.
Beveridge, W. (1942). Social Insurance and Allied Services. London: HMSO.
Bryman, A. (2004). Social Research Methods. (2nd ed). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Esping-Andersen, G. (1990). The three worlds of welfare capitalism. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
Esping-Andersen, G., Gallie, D., Hemerijck, Myles, J. (2002). Why we need a new welfare state? Oxford University Press.
Ferrera, M. (2021). The South European Countries. In D. Beland, K. J. Morgan, H. Obinger and C. Pierson (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Welfare State, 2nd edition. Oxford University Press.
Denzin, N. & Lincoln, Y. (2005). Introduction. In N. Denzin & Y. Lincoln (Eds.), The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
Evers, A. (1988). Shifts in the Welfare Mix: introducing a new approach for the study of transformations in welfare and social policy. In A. Evers and H. Wintersberger (Eds.), Shifts in the Welfare Mix: Their impact on the work, social services, and Welfare Policies. Vienna: European Centre for Social Welfare.
Garland, D. (2016). The Welfare State, New York: Oxford University Press.
Gough, I. (1979). The Political Economy of the Welfare State. London: MacMillan.
Hennessy, P. (1992). Never Again: Britain 1945 – 51. London: Cape. Pg.423
Lewis, J. (2003). Developing early childcare in England, 1997 – 2002, Social Policy and Administration, 37 (3): 219-38, pg.235.
Marlier, E., Atkinson, A. B., Cantillon, B and Nolan, B. (2006). Taking Forward the EU Social Exclusion Process. In E. Marler (eds), The EU and Social Inclusion: Facing the Challenges. Policy Press Scholarship.
O’Donnell, G. (2002). Mastering Sociology. (4th ed.). New York: Palgrave.
Rimlinger, G. V. (1971). Welfare Policy and Industrialization. New York: Wiley.
Stoesz, D. (2021). Welfare state: social policy after the pandemic, New York, NY: Routledge.
Titmus, R.M. (1968). Commitment to Welfare. London: Unwin University Books.
---------------- (1976). Essays on the Welfare State, 3rd ed. London: Allen & Unwin.
Townsend, P. (1979). Poverty in the United Kingdom. Harmondsworth, Penguin.
Vickerstaff, S. (2012). Work and Welfare. In In Baldock, J., Mitton, L., Manning, N., and
S. Vickerstaff, Social Policy. (3rd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press, Social Policy, Oxford: Oxford University Press
Wilkinson, R. G. (2000). Mind the gap: Hierarchies, Health, and Human Evolution. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
Xhumari, M., (2003). Process and Institutions of Social Policy (Procesi dhe Institucionet e Politikes Sociale). Tirane: KLEAN.
Wilensky, H. L. (1975). The Welfare State and Equality: Structural and Ideological Roots of public Expenditures. Berkley: University of California Press.
Wincott, D. (2003). Slippery concepts, shifting context: state and welfare in the Veit Wilson/Atherton Debate. Social Policy and Administration, 37(3): 305-15.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Studia Universitatis Babeș-Bolyai Sociologia
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
