The Political Economy of Policy Ideas: The European Strategy of Active Inclusion in Context (Palgrave Studies in European Political Sociology)

In 2008, the European Commission relaunched the policy idea of active inclusion, with the aim of facilitating the integration of people into sustainable and quality employment. Over ten years later, and in the aftermath of one of the most trying periods in Europe's recent economic history, this book provides a critical and timely reassessment. The Political Economy of Policy Ideas contributes to the growing scholarly literature on ideational political economy and labour market regulation by providing a systematic analysis of the idea of active inclusion and its three core principles: activation, conditionality and personalization. The research breaks new ground by detailing how divergent interpretations of these principles, by relevant social actors in different contexts, have shaped their implementation. The book is of interest to scholars and students across comparative political economy, economic sociology, welfare and industrial relations studies. Gemma Scalise is Assistant Professor of Economic Sociology at the University of Bergamo, and was Max Weber Fellow at the European University Institute, Italy Acknowledgments 6 Funding Statement 7 Praise for The Political Economy of Policy Ideas 9 Contents 11 Abbreviations 14 List of Figures 16 List of Tables 23 1 Introduction: Ideas and Comparative Political Economy 24 1.1 Foreword 24 1.2 Ideas and Capitalism 28 1.3 Overview of This Book 33 1.4 From the Epicentre: Reflections in Times of Coronavirus 37 References 44 2 Convergence or Divergence? The Debate on Capitalist Societies 48 2.1 Structure and Agency: A Useful Analytical Framework 48 2.2 The Balance Between Growth and Inclusion: Six Ideal Types of Capitalism 52 2.3 Differentiated Pathways to Inclusive Growth 55 2.4 Actors and Their Different Strategies: State, Social Partners and Firms 65 2.4.1 The State 66 2.4.2 Organisation Representing Collective Labour and Business Interests 71 2.4.3 Firms 77 2.5 The Trajectories of Contemporary Capitalism 82 References 84 3 Active Inclusion: A New Policy Paradigm in the Wake of the 2008 Economic Crisis 89 3.1 Active Inclusion: Its Origin and Diffusion 89 3.2 Inclusive Labour Markets 96 3.3 Variety of Combinations of Employment Quantity and Quality 100 3.4 Social Partners and Inclusive Labour Markets 106 3.5 Industrial Relations, Public Policies and Employment Quality 112 References 118 4 Understanding Divergence: A Focus on National Regulation 123 4.1 A Closer Comparison: Three-Country Analysis 123 4.2 The Mediterranean Model: Spain 124 4.2.1 Irregular Social Dialogue 134 4.3 The Continental Model: France 136 4.3.1 Strong State, Weak Unions 140 4.4 The Nordic Model: Sweden 142 4.4.1 Resilient Cooperative Policy-Making 148 4.5 A Comparative Outlook 150 References 155 5 From Macro to Micro Evidence: Supranational Strategies, Local Interpretations 159 5.1 Active Labour Market Policies: Multiple Functions Behind Different Logics 159 5.2 Activation, Conditionality and Personalisation 162 5.3 The European Social Fund and the Relevance of Local Regulation 166 5.4 Governance by Indicators 172 5.5 From Ideas to Policy and Delivery: Research Design 175 5.5.1 The Case Studies 177 5.5.2 A Focus on the Foreign-Born Population 181 References 185 6 Local Pathways to Active Inclusion 190 6.1 A Common Policy Idea, Different Outcomes 190 6.2 The Restricted Active Inclusion of Barcelona 191 6.3 An Embedded Active Inclusion: The Lyon Case Study 201 6.4 Gothenburg: A Capacitating Active Inclusion 209 6.5 The Active Inclusion of Migrants 218 6.5.1 Barcelona 220 6.5.2 Lyon 223 6.5.3 Gothenburg 225 6.6 Policy Ideas and Local Interpretations: A Typology of Active Inclusion 227 References 231 7 The Political Economy of Policy Ideas: Concluding Remarks and Open Questions 234 7.1 Ideas, the EU and Knowledge Regimes 234 7.2 Ideas, Institutions and Actors 238 7.3 The Multi-Level Governance of Active Inclusion 243 7.4 What Ideas for the Post-COVID-19 World? 250 References 254 Index 257