scholarly journals Welfare Mentality as a Challenge to European Sustainable Development. What Role for Youth Inclusion and Institutions?

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 3549
Author(s):  
Andreea-Oana Iacobuță ◽  
Mihaela Ifrim
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Free Market ◽  
Individual Responsibility ◽  
Poverty And Inequality ◽  
Employment Education ◽  
Main Determinants ◽  
Redistribution Function ◽  
High Level ◽  
The Welfare State

This paper takes a free-market approach to the idea of welfare. That is, the analysis does not reject the role of the welfare state to fight against poverty and inequality but underlines the perils of the welfare mentality’s proliferation. Sustainable development requires more individual responsibility and less dependence on the state and its redistribution function. The aim of this paper is twofold. Firstly, it aims at showing that welfare mentality imposes challenges on sustainable development. The second aim is to identify the factors associated with welfare mentality. We use data from several international databases and apply correlation, principal components, and multiple regression analyses on a sample of 28 European countries. The results of our study show that welfare mentality negatively influences sustainable development by being positively correlated with the risk of poverty and the percentage of young people not in employment, education, or training (NEET). At the same time, countries such as Sweden, Denmark, and Luxembourg, widely acknowledged as welfare policy heavens, register low values in terms of preference for redistribution. The main determinants of welfare mentality are found to be a high level of NEET and a low level of economic freedom. This result points to the role of youth inclusion and free-market institutions in diminishing people’s welfare expectations and encouraging them to take better control of their own lives to reach prosperity and not depending on state support.

scholarly journals Advancing Social Capital through Participatory Approaches

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Muhammad Nelza Mulki Iqbal
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Community Engagement ◽  
Community Participation ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
Participatory Approaches ◽  
Fundamental Transformation ◽  
High Level ◽  
Small Clusters

Social capital discourse has come to be the foremost and essential aspects in achieving sustainable development, participatory democracy and just cities. Indonesia is like most Asian countries where people spatially and socially co-live in a community that is related to a network of small clusters. However, the formal study related to social capital is hardly founded. Based on its characters, Gotong Royong which is a socio-cultural ethic of the togetherness philosophy in Indonesia can be perceived as an Indonesian social capital practice. Advancing social capital through participatory approaches will need a deep consideration about the role of professional and community engagement. Successful collaborations between wider actors in participatory approaches could lead to a fundamental transformation that can both preserve and nurture social capital values. High level of social capital within communities can potentially underpin the successful community participation towards communal goals.

scholarly journals Dancing and Calculating: Culturally sustainable development and globalization in light of two paradigms of socio-cultural evolution

2014 ◽  
Vol 20 (70) ◽  
pp. 5-29
Author(s):  
Vjeran Katunarić
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Cold War ◽  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Free Market ◽  
Conceptual Foundation ◽  
Development Policies ◽  
Social Theories ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Developmental Policies ◽  
The Welfare State

Abstract Globalization challenges the usefulness of different paradigms of socio-cultural evolution and opens the possibility for their hybridization. In this paper, two paradigms of evolution, the transformational (Spencerian) and the variational / selectionist (Darwinian), as discerned by Fracchia and Lewontin (1999), are examined along with their social theoretical counterparts. Most social theories of development are connected to different evolutionary paradigms in different historical contexts. The transformational paradigm prevailed until the end of the Cold War (e.g. theories of modernization), and the selectionist paradigm, in various theoretical forms, thereafter (e.g. Huntington, Eisenstadt). Most developmental policies today prefer the selectionist paradigm in terms of the neoliberal free market. The transformational paradigm in development policies was predominant in the era of the welfare state in the West, and its counterpart in the era of the statism of the East. Sustainable development in a socio-cultural sense is the youngest and the least consistent policy concept, and it is not founded on the evolution paradigms. The concept was launched by the UN as an attempt at mediating, mostly on the grounds of ecological alarms, between the free-market and statist policies. The author considers the hybridization of these two paradigms to be a proper conceptual foundation of sustainable development. On this premise, he expounds the concept of a culturally oriented sustainable development, arguing that hybrids of developmental policies are more suitable for a decent survival of most countries.

The outcome of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development “Rio+20” Some critical comments

elni Review ◽  
2012 ◽  
pp. 68-73
Author(s):  
Eckard Rehbinder
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Global Environment ◽  
International Level ◽  
Future Developments ◽  
The Press ◽  
Firm Commitment ◽  
High Level ◽  
Local Levels

The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) took place in Rio de Janeiro between 20 and 22 June 2012. Against the backdrop of a worsening global environment it dealt with a broad range of issues of policy for sustainable development at international, regional, national, and local levels, including reform of the UN institutions in the field of sustainable development. The conference was the largest of all UN summits on environment and sustainable development ever held as from 1972, assembling, apart from representatives of governments and intergovernmental organisations, about 40,000 participants form the press and stakeholder organisations. Around the conference, a great number of - partly high level - side events were held. The conference was concluded with a Declaration ('Outcome of the Conference') named 'The Future we want'. The author of this article shares some critical comments on the summit outcome. Among other things, he believes that Rio+20 produced only few tangible results and that in particular the whole concept of sustainable development has remained open-ended. Nevertheless, he thinks that a major achievement of the Conference has been the firm commitment by states to increase the role of public participation, especially at the international level, and that the enormous activation of civil society that occurred in the preparation of and during the conference will leave its stamp on future developments.

The effectiveness of zakat in alleviating poverty and inequalities

Humanomics ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 314-329 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naziruddin Abdullah ◽  
Alias Mat Derus ◽  
Husam-Aldin Nizar Al-Malkawi
Keyword(s):  
Government Expenditure ◽  
Basic Needs ◽  
Poor People ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Muslim Countries ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Poor Households ◽  
Poverty And Inequality ◽  
Main Determinants

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of zakat (the Islamic tax) in alleviating poverty and inequality in Pakistan using a newly developed index, namely, the Basic Needs Deficiency Index (BNDI). Design/methodology/approach – The study formulates an index (BNDI) to measure the deficiency and effectiveness of zakat as one of the different items of government expenditure/spending to alleviate poverty. In this paper, Pakistan is chosen as a case study for two reasons: the availability and accessibility of data required for computing BNDI; and, in the past, no index such as this had been used to measure poverty in Pakistan. Findings – The results obtained from the computation of the BNDI have been able to explain the effectiveness of zakat in alleviating poverty and inequality in Pakistan. Practical implications – The findings of the study can be used by policymakers to measure and improve the effectiveness of zakat in reducing poverty and inequality. Social implications – As the ultimate beneficiaries of zakat are the poor people, the outcome of this study may help improve their quality of life. Originality/value – The paper develops a new methodology to measure poverty alleviation in Pakistan, focusing on the poor households’ consumption/expenditure on basic needs, government spending in terms of zakat and the number of zakat recipients as the three main determinants. The index developed in the present study can be applied to measure the performance of all Muslim countries whose provision of zakat is embedded in the national agenda to alleviate poverty.

scholarly journals THE ROLE OF GERONTOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY IN ACHIEVING THE UN’S SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S75-S76
Author(s):  
Toni C Antonucci
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Potential Role ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Poverty And Inequality ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Health And Well Being

Abstract The United Nations has identified 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) designed to improve the health and well-being of the world’s most vulnerable populations. This presentation will review the potential role psychology, in particular, illustrative theories and research, in achieving the SDGs of reducing poverty and achieving gender equality and empowerment. We consider life span (individual) developmental and life course (environmental structure) theories as useful for explaining how poverty and inequality influence the individual and community at one point in time and over time. Further, we use research evidence to illustrate how naturally occurring resources can be garnered to better explain, understand, identify and create successful intervention programs. We emphasize the importance psychology to achieving SDGs and emphasize that the application psychology to changing the behavior and expectations of individuals and societies to achieve sustainable development that contributes to a world that celebrates optimal and sustainable development for all.

scholarly journals Advancing Social Capital through Participatory Approaches Case of Community-Based Slum Upgrading in Yogyakarta, Indonesia

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Nelza Mulki Iqbal
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Participatory Approaches ◽  
Slum Upgrading ◽  
Fundamental Transformation ◽  
High Level ◽  
Small Clusters

Social capital discourse has come to be the foremost and essential aspects in achieving sustainable development, participatory democracy and just cities. Indonesia is like most Asian countries where people spatially and socially co-live in a community that is related to a network of small clusters. However, the formal study related to social capital is hardly founded. Based on its characters, Gotong Royong which is a socio-cultural ethic of the togetherness philosophy in Indonesia can be perceived as an Indonesian social capital practice. Advancing social capital through participatory approaches will need a deep consideration about the role of professional and community engagement. Successful collaborations between wider actors in participatory approaches could lead to a fundamental transformation that can both preserve and nurture social capital values. High level of social capital within communities can potentially underpin the successful community participation towards communal goals.

Study on the perception of South Korean librarians of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the strategy to support libraries

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Younghee Noh
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
South Korean ◽  
Support Strategies ◽  
2030 Agenda ◽  
Support Strategy ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
High Level ◽  
Level Of Agreement

This study made an attempt to understand the level of South Korean librarians’ awareness of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and IFLA’s support strategy for the SDGs, the degree of implementation of the UN’s SDGs support strategy by individual libraries, and how much the librarians agree with IFLA’s support strategy. As a result, first, this study revealed that public librarians had little knowledge of the UN SDGs 2030 agenda or the fact that IFLA has proposed support strategies for the UN’s SDGs. Second, this study found a high level of agreement among librarians with IFLA’s support strategies set for libraries to achieve the UN SDGs . Reflecting the two results above, it can be understood that librarians, though they were not well aware of the agenda of the UN SDGs 2030 or the library’s support strategies set by IFLA for the agenda, highly agree that the library’s support strategies suggested by IFLA are the role of libraries. Therefore, widely promoting the library’s support strategies proposed by IFLA for the UN SDGs 2030 is highly likely to encourage many librarians to participate actively.

scholarly journals THE ROLE OF GERONTOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY IN ACHIEVING THE UN’S SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S76-S76
Author(s):  
Toni C Antonucci
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Potential Role ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Poverty And Inequality ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Health And Well Being

Abstract The United Nations has identified 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) designed to improve the health and well-being of the world’s most vulnerable populations. This presentation will review the potential role psychology, in particular, illustrative theories and research, in achieving the SDGs of reducing poverty and achieving gender equality and empowerment. We consider life span (individual) developmental and life course (environmental structure) theories as useful for explaining how poverty and inequality influence the individual and community at one point in time and over time. Further, we use research evidence to illustrate how naturally occurring resources can be garnered to better explain, understand, identify and create successful intervention programs. We emphasize the importance psychology to achieving SDGs and emphasize that the application psychology to changing the behavior and expectations of individuals and societies to achieve sustainable development that contributes to a world that celebrates optimal and sustainable development for all.

The allocation of responsibility for later life: Canadian reflections on the roles of individuals, government, employers and families

2003 ◽  
Vol 23 (6) ◽  
pp. 737-760 ◽  
Author(s):  
CANDACE L. KEMP ◽  
MARGARET DENTON
Keyword(s):  
Personal Responsibility ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Individual Responsibility ◽  
Ageing Population ◽  
Perceptions Of Risk ◽  
Individual Perceptions ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
The Welfare State

Set against the backdrop of an ageing population and the discourse surrounding old age, risk and the welfare state, this paper draws on 51 semi-structured life-history interviews to examine how mid- and late-life Canadians discuss and allocate responsibility for the provision of social, financial and medical supports in later life. Whatever their personal circumstances, most individuals articulated sentiments of personal responsibility for later life. Individual planning and preparation were defined as necessary to secure against the perceived individual and collective risks associated with becoming and being old. The role of the state was intimately connected to individual responsibility, as ‘deserving’ citizens were understood to have legitimate claims to state-supported pensions, health care and social programmes. Although some participants cited the provision of pensions, the least consensus concerned employers' responsibilities. Meanwhile, with the exception of emotional support, most participants had minimal expectations of their relatives or family members. Most rejected the notion that family members should provide housing, financial support or personal care. It is concluded that individual perceptions of risk and responsibility have profound connections to state support, public policy and normative patterns of familial and employer assistance in later life.

Conclusion

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger E. Backhouse ◽  
Bradley W. Bateman ◽  
Tamotsu Nishizawa ◽  
Dieter Plehwe
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Free Market ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Effective Role ◽  
The Welfare State

This volume reveals the complexity of the positions towards the welfare state taken by economists, most of whom could be counted as liberal in one way or another. Liberal economists were both at the heart of the original development of the welfare state and at the center of the counter movement against the welfare state. The nature of the interaction between liberalism and the welfare state, and the role of economists, varied greatly between countries. Initially, the structure of the welfare states in different nations made it difficult for transnational neoliberal ideas to have much influence in minimizing the size and nature of the welfare state. Today, however, one brand of free-market, anti-state neoliberalism plays a particularly effective role in attacks on the welfare state across countries. History shows that is not the only form of liberalism or the only ways that liberals might see the welfare state.

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