This paper examines different models of disability policy in European welfare regimes on the basis of secondary data. OECD data measuring social protection and labour-market integration is complemented with an index which measures the outcomes of disability civil rights. Eurobarometer data is used to construct the index. The country modelling by cluster analysis indicates that an encompassing model of disability policy is mainly prevalent in Nordic countries. An activating and rehabilitating disability-policy model is predominant mainly in Central European countries, and there is evidence for a distinct Eastern European model characterized by relatively few guaranteed civil rights for disabled people. Furthermore, the Southern European model, which indicates a preference for social protection rather than activation and rehabilitation, includes countries which normally have diverse welfare traditions. KEYWORDS disability policy; welfare state regimes; comparative analysis; social policy; equal rights Points of interest • Much is written about links between capitalism and the modern concept of disability, but little research has compared disability policy across different types of welfare capitalism. • Research has measured and compared social protection and labour-market integration for disabled people in member countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. • There are theoretical claims that disability civil rights form a third dimension of a welfare state's disability policy; therefore, the authors of this article use self-reported perceptions of discrimination and accessibility to compute an index of disability civil rights. • Including all three dimensions, the analysis suggests that European welfare regimes have four distinct disability-policy models. • For disability studies, it is helpful to see that some countries are committed to all three dimensions of disability policy without any trade-offs.
<p class="Default">Disablement is a complex social phenomenon in contemporary societies, reflected in disability policies oriented towards contrasting paradigms. Fraught with ambivalence, disability raises dilemmas of classification and targeted supports. Paradoxical universalism emphasizes that to achieve universality requires recognizing individual dis/abilities and particular contextual conditions and barriers that disable. Myriad aspects of educational and disability policies challenge both conceptualization and realization of universal policies, such as compulsory schooling, with widespread exclusion or segregation prevalent. Resulting tensions between providing support and ubiquitous stigmatization and separation are endemic, and particularly evident during life course transitions that imply shifting memberships in institutions and organizations. Particularly visible among disabled youth, school-to-work transitions are fundamentally challenged by contrasting policies, institutional logics, and institutionalized organizations. Analyzing institutional logics facilitates understanding of the lack of coordination that hinders successful transitions. Examining such challenges in the United States and Switzerland, we compare their labor markets and federal governance structures and contrasting education, welfare, and employment systems. Whereas lacking inter-institutional coordination negatively impacts disabled young adults in the United States, Switzerland’s robust vocational education and training system, while not a panacea, does provide more coordinated support during school-to-work transitions. These two countries provide relevant cases to examine ambivalence and contestation around the human right to inclusive education as well as the universality of the right (not) to work.</p>
This article examines four European countries (Switzerland, Germany, Sweden, and the United Kingdom) with respect to their degree of disability care personalisation. The approach is embedded in a broader theoretical analysis, which in turn is inspired by the notion of bivalent social justice as presented by Nancy Fraser (2003). The theoretical argument is that claims for personal assistance are part of a broader movement toward emancipation. However, it is argued that the specific settings of welfare regimes provide structures that empower or mitigate the possible implementation of personal assistance schemes. The author argues that conservative-corporatist welfare regimes provide less-supportive opportunity structures for policy change pertaining to personal assistance than other welfare regimes. This heuristic argument is developed further by looking more closely at key figures of Sweden, Germany, and the United Kingdom as being ideal-typical welfare regime cases. Furthermore, the case of Switzerland is outlined in an in-depth manner as it seems to have conservativecorporatist characteristics regarding the organisation of disability care while simultaneously being difficult to theorise. It is the aim of this article to serve as a first heuristic undertaking for analysing the low level of disability care personalisation in certain continental European cases.
Der aus Deutschland stammende Josef Spieler hatte an der Universität Freiburg in der Schweiz von 1933 bis 1945 eine Professur in „Psychologie, Pädagogik und Heilpädagogik“ inne. Diese wurde ihm 1945 entzogen und er musste wegen nationalsozialistischen Sympathien 1947 die Schweiz verlassen. Die Forschung hat diese Vorkommnisse teilweise aufgearbeitet und sich, wenngleich zögerlich, auch schweizerischen Professoren mit Sympathien für den Faschismus gewidmet. Von der Forschung vernachlässigt wurde ein Netzwerk um die Caritas, welches Spielers Wiedereingliederung in Deutschland begünstigte. Zudem ist die Einordnung von Eduard Montalta, dem Nachfolger von Josef Spieler, bis heute umstritten. Dieser Text stellt die bis heute vorgebrachte Deutung einer scharfen ideologischen Diskontinuität zwischen Josef Spieler und Eduard Montalta in Frage.
Bonvin, Jean-Michel und Stephan Dahmen (Hg.) (2017). Reformieren durch Investieren? Chancen und Grenzen des Sozialinvestitionsstaats in der Schweiz. Investir dans la protection social – atouts et limites pour la Suisse. Zürich: Seismo Verlag. 144 Seiten, SFr. 28 / € 26.
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