WELFARE SYSTEMS & MINORITIES IN SOUTH EASTERN EUROPE
This project is supported by the LSEE funding framework for the first stage of a new research initiative designed to explore the relationship between systems of welfare and minorities in South East Europe with a particular focus on the Roma population.
This project began in September 2012 and is funded for 12 months. The project will be carried out by Dr Will Bartlett (LSE) and Dr Claire Gordon (LSE) with research assistance provided by Katya Ivanova, PhD student at the European Institute (LSE) and Diana Popescu, PhD student in the Department of Government (LSE).
Project Summaries
The project investigates the relationship between welfare systems and the social inclusion of minorities. Given the difficult socio-economic conditions faced by minority communities in South East Europe and the evidence of high levels of social exclusion, in particular among the region’s Roma population, this project raises questions of significant academic and policy interest. The project will carry out a literature review as a precursor to establishing a theoretical and conceptual framework for a larger-scale research project. The review will examine existing work on welfare systems in South East Europe and explore the relevant academic literature on the social inclusion of minorities with a particular focus on the Roma.
The research builds on Esping Andersen’s seminal study of different ‘worlds of welfare’ in Western Europe structured along three broadly defined welfare state regimes (the liberal welfare state regime type, the corporatist regime type and the social democratic type). This classification has been criticised in recent years given the range of reforms to welfare and social provision (welfare to work, the introduction of ALMPs in part the result of the reduction of welfare budgets) shedding doubt on this classificatory approach and leading to suggestions of convergence among welfare systems in Western Europe. Various distinct and hybrid regime types have been identified by studies of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe which in the 1990s underwent transition from centrally planned economies with universal welfare provision and full employment to liberal market economies torn between fiscal constraint and the imperative of ensuring the political sustainability of their reform processes. The countries of the Western Balkans, shaped by the experience of wars and conflicts as well as extreme economic difficulties and widespread social exclusion, have seen the emergence of yet other forms of welfare.
The current study also opens the broader question of the relationship between systems of welfare and the inclusion of minority populations, a question which to date has not been widely studied. While the sparse academic literature in this area focuses on the nexus between migrant minority communities and social provision, this study concentrates on the Roma populations in the countries of the South East Europe. Previous work by members of the research team for the European Parliament (Bartlett, Benini and Gordon, 2011) identified the deterioration in the socio-economic position of the Roma people in Central and Eastern Europe following the collapse of communism and the transition to market economies, with the Roma losing the right to employment and housing that was (to differing degrees) assured under the previous system and resulting in significant declines in health and educational levels. The dire socio-economic conditions in which large numbers of Roma people currently live has been identified across the wider public policy community and given rise to a range of policy initiatives in recent years (the Decade of Roma Inclusion, the EU’s Framework for National Strategies on Roma Inclusion, etc.). However, there has been little evidence of improvement in their socio-economic situation. Given the presence of large numbers of Roma throughout the South East European region in particular in Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia and Macedonia the challenge of identifying potential differences in forms of welfare between these four countries and examining whether particular forms of welfare are more likely to facilitate Roma inclusion and thus promote social cohesion is therefore highly relevant.
Following the literature review, the research team will carry out field research based on interviews with key informants including in government ministries, international organisations, civil society representatives, leaders of minority associations and academia with the aim of gaining a better understanding of the position of minorities within welfare regimes in each of the four case study countries included in the study. Particular attention will be placed on the influence of the new European Union policy framework for Roma inclusion in promoting Roma inclusion and the effectiveness of international policy interventions in this policy area.
Project Outcomes
All projects have commenced in the autumn of 2012. Reports on progress with the research projects and relevant outputs (conference / seminar presentations, working papers, etc) will be uploaded on this page as they become available.