Purpose This paper offers an empirical study of the Emergency Support to Integration and Accommodation (ESTIA) programme, as the policy initiative for the provision of housing and social integration for asylum seekers over the last few years in Greece. Greece is a country that is geographically situated on the southern external borders of Europe and has been experiencing a rise in refugee flows since 2015. At a first glance, it seems that ESTIA’s central aim is social integration. The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether the design and implementation framework of ESTIA essentially promotes the goal of social integration or whether it is merely a gesture that has no real effect. Design/methodology/approach The field research focussed on an evaluation of the ESTIA programme on the basis of its impact on the social integration of its beneficiaries. This was attempted by examining the attitudes and perceptions of key stakeholders during its design and implementation stages. In order to examine these dimensions, qualitative research methods were developed. In particular, in-depth interviews were conducted with key informants involved in the design and implementation processes of ESTIA. Findings Social integration is something much more than providing permanent shelters to asylum seekers. ESTIA has been designed and implemented with a view to providing better temporary housing conditions for its beneficiaries. The rest of the range of actions for their social actions was left to voluntary actions by the implementing agencies, without offering them any financial support – a fact that suggests that the use of the term “social integration” in relation to this programme is disingenuous. Such an intervention does not aim at significant social integration but, primarily, the temporary management of extreme impoverishment. ESTIA can, therefore, be added to the scientific literature as yet another case study where the complex concept of social integration is misused by the EU and European states to legitimise the policies of repression and control of refugee populations. Originality/value This is the first field research that examines the design and implementation framework of ESTIA, the most important programme for the social integration of asylum seekers in Greece. The presentation of research findings is expected to make a significant contribution to the improvement of many aspects of the design and implementation framework of ESTIA.
<p>This article attempts to examine the policies for confronting homelessness in Greece during the crisis. The thesis proposed is that, regardless of the signs of a significant deterioration in the problem of homelessness, a range of policies has been developed that focus on the management of its most extreme and publicly visible manifestations. Social interventions are inadequate, fragmented, repressive in their nature, and with a strong emphasis on charity. This can be seen in the emphasis given to developing emergency services centered on in-kind provisions. The main burden of implementing these services is mainly borne by civil society, with extensive non-state fund-raising to supports its activities. This fact entails wider connotations for the “new” form of social policy that is emerging.</p>
The article examines invisible deprivation and housing precariousness in the countryside through the phenomenon of counterurbanization as a vehicle for overcoming poverty phenomena of urban households in Greece during the economic crisis. We argue that, despite the idealized picture for living in a village, as shown in the predominantly public discourse; rural life is governed by equally unfavorable living conditions for households at the risk of poverty. Through the theoretical framework of hidden homelessness in the rural, fundamental dimensions of housing problems and inadequate living conditions in the countryside are presented. Through the analysis of the different life pathways of people returning from the city to the village, the housing and social living conditions, during the crisis, in the Greek countryside are empirically examined. In the conclusions we find that returning back to rural areas, without accompanying established social support policies, only leads to the reproduction of a situation of proletarianization of households and to the transformation of urban poverty to rural poverty.
This article provides a succinct overview of the phenomenon of solidarization in crisis‐ridden Greece. Brief accounts of the pre‐ and post‐crisis situation in four core social policy areas (health, employment, housing, education) are combined with the presentation of four illustrative case studies, one for each of the aforementioned areas. Drawing on a broad range of primary and secondary data, including 20 in‐depth interviews with key stakeholders and end‐users of the actions examined, we argue that while the crisis provoked a further “residualization” of the institutionalized solidarity system, it also triggered the development of new solidarity ventures, both by state and non‐state actors, often even including partnerships between them. These ventures reflect the building of a bridge between institutionalized and informal solidarity in Greece and the shift towards a new type of mixed, although fragmented, mode of solidarity.
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to compare homelessness policies in Portugal and Greece. Design/methodology/approach After a brief overview of the relationship between welfare regimes and homelessness, the characteristics of homelessness policies within the South-European regime are studied. Subsequently, by employing empirical data, a comparison between the homelessness policies of these two countries is attempted through three axes of analysis: the historical emergence of homelessness policies; the impact of the memoranda, as a series of fiscal measures associated with welfare retrenchment, on the deterioration of homelessness; and the characteristics of the social policies being developed. Findings It is noted that the two countries consolidate a residual social intervention model that fails to address homelessness adequately. Originality/value This is the first attempt to compare homelessness policies between Portugal and Greece.
The present article sheds light on the implementation of the ‘Social Solidarity Income’ (SSI) in Greece, an example of a guaranteed minimum income (GMI). Drawing on the findings of 40 semi-structured interviews carried out in five selected municipalities, the article focuses on the ‘social impact’ of the SSI. More specifically, it investigates two inter-related themes: a) the social situation of beneficiaries and the survival strategies they used before and after receiving the SSI; and b) aspects of the SSI that should be improved at the implementation stage. It is argued that, despite certain positive elements of the SSI, such as the monetary allowance, which is a key component of the SSI and assists beneficiaries in covering their basic needs, the impact of the SSI on the lives of individuals is relatively small and a large proportion of the beneficiaries continue to rely on the survival strategies they used before implementation of the SSI
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