Simone Baglioni

• PhD
• Professor and Vice Rector Teaching at University of Parma

Applying a critical perspective to stimulate dialogue and mutual learning between the interconnected fields of social innovation and social policy analysis, this dynamic Handbook investigates the often-contested relationship between these two areas of enquiry and practice. Bringing together discerning contributions from a diverse team of internatio...

"Civil Society" entry in the Elgar Encyclopedia of Political Sociology edited by Maria Grasso and Marco Giugni. It introduces the concept of civil society in modern and contemporary political thought and presents its key features.

This paper discusses the integration processes between migrants and local communities occurring in remote regions. Integration is approached as a two-way process of mutual accommodation between newcomers and receiving societies, as well as in its’ multidimensional domains. Remoteness is considered from a geographical and cultural point of view. Fir...

In this article we critically investigate the role that volunteering can have in the labour market inclusion of migrants. We consider how volunteering can both enhance and hinder inclusion through a comparison of two different contexts: Finland and the UK, where both welfare state and migration regimes are differently shaped. We also question wheth...

New dynamics of local development have shed the light on the possible revitalization of European rural and mountain areas. A key element in these dynamics is the international migration fluxes that have these areas as new destinations. Newcomers' arrivals to rural and mountain areas represent both an opportunity and a challenge. They can fill in th...

Based on rich first hand empirical material, the chapter discusses the implications of the gig economy for workers and trade unions in the UK context.

he introductory chapter discusses key theoretical concepts upon which the book develops, such as the meaning of integration and inclusion, broadly understood but also with reference to the labour market and to the wider social context. Hence it reflects on how different labour outcomes affect empowerment and participation as key aspects of newcomer...

‘Delving into everyday experiences of a range of migrants and hearing their own voices, this chapter discusses how newcomers exercise agency to seize opportunities offered by their country of settlement and mitigate the effect of the turbulent social, political and economic circumstances they often meet with. To understand migrants’ capabilities a...

This chapter discusses the role that social partners and social dialogue can play by enabling or not the integration of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in the European labour market. Social partners play a key role in labour market dynamics as they contribute towards determining the policy and legal frameworks that shape labour markets, but a...

Migrants’ agency is a promising analytical tool and approach in migration and refugee studies as it shifts the focus of analysis (and attention) from the weaknesses or ‘faults’ of the migration experience to the opportunities and capacities it can generate for migrants and the community where they settle. Still, political, institutional, cultural,...

The transformations of work evident in the global economy by the fusion of technological developments and global capital, have generated new patterns of work which disrupt long established conceptual, legal, and common understandings of labour. The new forms of employment that are labelled the ‘gig economy’ are among them: building, on the one hand...

This chapter presents the analytical framework of this volume, arguing that an interpretive-biographical methodology for analysing labour market integration can highlight the many ways in which migrants exercise agency both materially in shaping their lives but also cognitively and emotionally in making sense of what is happening to them, taking de...

This chapter summarizes the interaction between integration and agency by comparing migrants’ encounters with labour markets through which their agency challenges existing discourses. The chapter investigates the complex relationship between policy discourse, gender, and class in the production of migrant agency across different countries. The gend...

This paper serves as an introduction to a special issue that discusses the role of civil society in the labour market integration of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in six European countries: the Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Italy, Switzerland and the UK. The paper presents a typology of civil society's involvement in migrant labour integ...

Due to an increasingly turbulent and unpredictable socio-economic environment, the sustainability of many CSOs is frequently questioned. To better understand the financial infrastructure of the social economy in times of crisis, we analyse a unique set of responses from 245 CSOs across eight European countries. Given the transnational nature of cri...

In this article focused upon the UK context, we sought to better understand how political elites shaped public debate to reinforce rather than challenge the hostile policy environment for those seeking asylum. We undertook a political claims analysis (Koopmans and Statham, 1999) focusing on a venue that has been pivotal in shaping the discourse aro...

The discourse of deservingness has been mobilised against certain groups in the UK society navigating UK labour markets, among them refugees and asylum seekers. These discourses, leading to the stigmatisation of the unemployed are coupled with an emphasis on the importance of individuals taking responsibility to develop their ‘employability’. Littl...

Questa introduzione presenta la cornice teorica in cui si situano gli articoli di seguito selezionati per la pubblicazione. La cittadinanza sostanziale o vissuta è emersa nelle scienze sociali in contrappunto rispetto alla cittadinanza formale o legale. Così concepita, diventa l'oggetto di molteplici pratiche e rivendicazioni sviluppate da soggetti...

This report provides a qualitative cross-country examination of the migration phenomenon in rural and mountain areas from an economic perspective. The main objective is to explain the impacts and effects that international migrant influxes have on the selected areas and look at changes, variations, developments, and innovations occurred in local fi...

This document presents 10 country reports from the Horizon 2020 project MATILDE. The main aim of this project is to investigate the socio-economic impact and role that migrations have on the European rural and mountain areas. This document provides key information from 14 regions situated in 10 European countries (Austria, Bulgaria, Finland, German...

Against the background of crisis and cuts, citizens can express solidarity with groups in various ways. Using novel survey data this article explores the attitudes and behaviours of citizens in their expressions of solidarity with disabled people and in doing so illuminates the differences and similarities across two European contexts: Italy and th...

The purpose of this chapter is to provide a detailed overview of the UK legal and institutional factors at the macro-level that can be regarded as decisive for explaining the effective capacity of the country to integrate migrants, refugees and asylum seekers into the labour market. By doing so, we aim to better understand the conditions within whi...

The participation of foreign nationals in European labour markets is an effective tool that facilitates those migrants enjoying a more fulfilling life, while at the same time contributing to Europe’s wealth and economic and social development. However, many norms that regulate migration and labour migration undermine this spirit by limiting, both d...

This article provides preliminary analyses on how the Covid-19 pandemic is affecting the labour market positions of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in Italy and in Great Britain. Our research interest stems from the findings of the EU funded SIRIUS project (Skills and integration of migrants, refugees and asylum applicants in European labour...

This document presents the impact assessments of a range of policies on migrants’ interaction with the social and economic structure of the remote and rural areas in the MATILDE countries – Austria, Bulgaria, Finland, Germany, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and in the United Kingdom.

This report presents the impact assessment of a range of policies on migrants’ interaction with the social and economic structure of the remote and rural areas in Austria, Bulgaria, Finland, Germany, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and in the United Kingdom.

This open access book discusses how, and to what extent, the legal and institutional regimes and the socio-cultural environments of a range of European countries (the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland Greece, Italy, Switzerland and the UK), in the framework of EU laws and policies, have a beneficial or negative impact on the effective capacity of th...

Young People and Long-Term Unemployment examines the consequences of long-term unemployment for the personal, social, and political lives of young adults aged 18–34 across four European cities: Cologne (Germany), Geneva (Switzerland), Lyon (France), and Turin (Italy). Adopting a multidimensional theoretical framework aiming to bring together insig...

The purpose of this article is to examine whether and by what means traditional unions and other labour-oriented organisations engage in solidarity activities in favour of precarious workers and the unemployed. Our findings derive from qualitative data analysed from 10 in-depth interviews per country conducted as part of a large collaborative proje...

Purpose: As the provision of public services in many advanced welfare states has increasingly come to be marked by competition, social enterprises have actively been encouraged by governments to become involved in the delivery of public services. While the evaluation of complex public health interventions has arguably become increasingly more sophi...

Literature in the field of employability and the third sector has focused upon the impact of marketisation on third sector providers, elaborating how commissioning processes have led to a contraction of (smaller) third sector organisations (TSOs) and an expansion of larger private sector bodies. Extant research does not however explore the role of...

This chapter discusses UK-based civil society organisations supporting vulnerable groups (migrants, refugees and asylum seekers; disabled people; and the unemployed) which have been on the front line of a decade of austerity and funding cuts. It does so by exploring the relationship between these organisations and policymakers; the impact of auster...

This article seeks to answer the question: how should we conceptualise the "gig economy"? In doing so the authors shall explore if gig economy work should be understood as a novel concept that stands alone, a concept that is a subtype, or whether it may in fact be conceptually redundant. Design/methodology/approach-The authors conduct a thematic a...

This research report discusses individual level barriers and enablers in migrants' labour market integration across seven European countries. It draws on over 100 biographic interviews with migrants, refugees and asylum seekers carried out in early 2020.

This article examines collective action and the alliances between social movement organizations engaged in the work of solidarity with disabled people within and across borders during austerity. Building upon social movement theory, specifically political opportunities (Eisinger, 1973; McAdam, 1996) and resource mobilisation (McCarthy and Zald, 197...

This report presents findings from the Sirius project research on the role that social partners and social dialogue play in the integration of migrants and refugees across seven European countries.

Solidarity among member states, one of the European Union’s (EU) fundamental values, has recently been put to the test by numerous and diverse challenges that have led to a “crisis of solidarity.” In the United Kingdom, the decision in June 2016 by the electorate to vote to leave the EU revealed the British dimension of this crisis. However, little...

Since the late 1990s social enterprises have been increasingly utilised as a means of delivering of health and social care services. However, there is little evidence on if, and how, provision by social enterprise might achieve positive health outcomes, particularly in comparison to other modes of delivery. In this paper, we draw upon the multiple...

In many countries, social enterprise has been introduced into a competitive market-oriented environment as a substitute for publicly owned services, particularly in healthcare. In the United Kingdom, evidence for this move seems to derive from case studies where social enterprise operates in collaboration – as opposed to competition – with publicly...

Social enterprises (SEs) in Western Europe have emerged as powerful actors that engage in activities that rely on both market forces and the state. By either sharing social risk or acting as innovative, business-like organizations that offer employment opportunities to vulnerable people, SEs have become pivotal and complementary actors in public sy...

Solidarity in contemporary Britain has come under pressure not only as a result of the global financial crisis and the ensuing austerity measures but also against a backdrop of constitutional volatility from the Scottish independence referendum in 2014 and the vote to leave the EU in 2016. Using cross-sectional data from an original survey of 2083...

This is the "Governance and Social Enterprise" entry in the Springer Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance edited by Ali Farazmand (Springer, Cham, 2018)

This article discusses some issues raised by the relationship between social innovation (SI), social enterprise (SE) and local public welfare services. It draws upon evidence analysing SI and SE in Scotland to contribute to the debate as to whether SI and SE will meet expectations in addressing the significant challenges currently faced by welfare...

Social innovation has become a prominent theme in discussions of social policy reform across the world. This book examines why social innovation is important to social policy analysis. It discusses the theoretical and policy context of this concept; its origin and background; why it has emerged to prominence in recent years and how it has been appl...

This chapter discusses examples of social innovations which address unemployment: an issue of long-standing concern for many governments and an area of considerable policy activity. The chapter begins by outlining the growing incidence of precarious and low paid employment in many developed economies. Governments have been particularly concerned ab...

This chapter introduces and discusses examples of social innovation in response to the growing and pressing need to provide care for different groups. Social innovations in this area are often user-led and highly participatory. Many of the most imaginative such initiatives emerge from bottom-up responses developed by citizens’ groups. In other case...

This chapter summarises the recurring themes and lessons from the preceding substantive chapters and reflects upon their implications for public policy and analysis. The chapter argues that social innovations provide many examples of imaginative and inspirational responses to the serious challenges confronting national welfare systems. The energy a...

This chapter discusses how social innovation relates to debates in social and public policy analysis. The chapter outlines the respective normative, analytical and empirical questions raised by social innovation in relation to welfare provision and reform. It discusses how social innovations originate and develop, and the extent to which they can b...

This book provides an introduction to the concept of Social Innovation for readers interested in social and public policy. It explains why social and public policy analysts, policy makers and practitioners should become familiar with this idea, and explores how social innovation relates to key debates and core issues in public welfare. The book exp...

The introductory chapter outlines some of the major social changes (e.g. in demography, employment and labour markets) which pose significant challenges to established social welfare systems. It discusses how and why social innovation has emerged and been promoted as a response to these challenges. The chapter clarifies the meaning of social innova...

This chapter considers the response of social innovations to the growing concern with food poverty. Food provision has not traditionally been a core public welfare function in the most developed welfare regimes, and social innovations often provide more developed and effective responses than government in this area. Voluntary and civil society orga...

The paper serves as an introduction to a special issue discussing social enterprises historical development and functions against welfare regimes across six European countries (France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Scotland, Serbia). While discussing convergences and diversities among them, the introduction proposes a comparative analytical framework for...

This study is part of a special issue aimed at investigating young people’s trajectories in troubled and challenging times. The paper tackles the topic by providing the results of an in-depth qualitative and exploratory study conducted on young unemployed people in the Italian city of Turin – the industrial ‘capital’ of the Sixties, now undergoing...

This book provides comparative, multi-disciplinary research on the surplus food distribution in Europe and its relation to food poverty, with a focus on the interaction of for-profit and non-profit organisations. It offers an informed and rich discussion in understanding the collaboration between profit and non-profit organisations involved in food...

Food security has become a central issue in international policy debates and academic literature. Although high-income countries have long considered their population sheltered from food insecurity, the recent economic and financial crisis has challenged such assumption and food poverty has become an increasingly relevant policy issue across Europe...

The chapter presents good practices in food surplus recovery and redistribution as they emerge from our analysis of 30 case studies of non-profit organizations across Italy, Germany, France, and Spain. The cases are discussed according to dimensions and indicators introduced in Chap. 6. The first part presents organisations standing out for their r...

This chapter focuses on regulations of food surplus recovery and donation in four countries: Italy, Germany, France and Spain. The chapter draws on academic and grey literature and illustrates regulations expanding from those discussed in Chap. 2. In particular, this chapter investigates fiscal and tax-related incentives, liability, food durability...

This chapter presents the research rationale underpinning the book. It addresses the intertwining challenges of food security and surplus food management, discussing recent data and literature. It also presents how social innovation is conceptualized in the book as the theoretical framework to analyse partnerships between business and non-profit or...

This report presents preliminary findings about the activities of civil society organizations (CSOs) working in the filed of migration/asylum, disability and unemployment in the UK. It reflects also the impact of the economic crisis and austerity policies on these CSOs' work. The report is part of a research delivery of the Horizon 2020 project Tra...

The social care sector has been identified as a potential source of job creation for young people by policymakers, however the quality of such employment opportunities requires closer scrutiny. This study reveals how job creation strategies focused upon sectors such as social care which have high levels of employment insecurity can contribute towar...

Purpose – This paper draws upon prior research that built a theoretical framework for the emergence of social enterprise ecosystems based upon biological evolutionary theory. This paper seeks to extend this previous research by practically applying the theory to the development of stakeholder and institutional networks across Europe. Design/methodo...

This chapter explores the extent to which long-term unemployment can lead to social exclusion, paying particular attention to the role of material deprivation. Drawing on qualitative semi-structured interviews conducted with 19 young unemployed men and women living in the Italian city of Turin, the authors develop a ‘multilayered’ model that sheds...

Social enterprise has been identified as a culturally and socially constructed phenomenon; over recent years there has been increasing focus on how social enterprise ‘ecosystems’ differ across countries. There has been less focus on the differences in social enterprise ecosystems within countries, where regional differences in the cultural, politic...

Food security and food waste are unanimously recognised as relevant issues affecting the whole society and should be therefore acknowledged as a priority on the public agenda. Nonetheless, in many countries the third sector stands in for public actors and operates to tackle both these issues. This paper explores the role of public and third sector...

This article discusses how associational membership can compensate for that lack of opportuni-ties and motivation necessary for political participation that unemployment usually provokes. We investigate such a moderator effect of associational membership by means of a CATI survey of young people realized in two different cities: Turin in Italy and...