The left and right hands of the Portuguese state: Welfare retrenchment of public employment

Abstract

This article focuses on welfare retrenchment in Portugal by analysing the evolution of public sector employment up until 2013. A multidimensional analysis of the structure of public employment in the Portuguese state was developed, theoretically guided by the ‘hands of the state’ model proposed by Bourdieu, which divides the main functions of contemporary states between its left hand (more redistributive) and its right hand (more rational economic-oriented). Bourdieu’s approach is especially useful in addressing the transformations of the Portuguese public employment between 1979 and 2013, characterized by specific economic, social and political changes. In 2013 – a year in which the adjustment measures agreed by the Portuguese government, the European Central Bank, the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund during the global crisis were especially intense – we observed the tendency towards the disqualification of public employment and the shrinking of the left hand of the Portuguese state. Public policy orientations in the areas of education and science were particularly troubling, considering the structural backwardness the country faces in these fields in the context of the European Union.

Foreign Students in Higher Education Institutions in Portugal, Expectations and Reality - A Case Study

“…The first period coincides exactly with the peak of the effects of the 2008 economic and financial crisis, in which Portugal experienced a period of great austerity with a strong impact on all public social and wellbeing services [2]. In this period, although the number of PALOP grant recipients increased (+21%), it was relatively contained.…”

“…It is in particular after the political transition to the left, which occurs in 2016, that the number of those entering the higher education system through the special access competition to PALOP scholarship students increases exponentially (216% between 2016 and 2019). Meanwhile the targets enshrined in the "legislature contract" for 2020-2023, signed in November 2019 between the government and public higher education institutions, propose to significantly reinforce the presence of foreign students in the national system where the contingent here under review also fits 2 . This strategy announces a 100% increase in the number of these students by 2023, and also allocates specific financial resources for those enrolled in doctoral studies (not included in the figures presented in this analysis).…”

“…In accordance with Silva, "it is knowledge ready to be transformed into a high-tech product, into new production processes and services, and is related to the possibility of obtaining immediate profit in the economic sphere" [1. ] In Portugal, a country at the periphery of these international mobility movements, in addition to the general ideological framework very favourable to internationalisation, the structural under-funding of HEIs, resulting from the decrease of public resources for higher education, intensified with the 2008 economic and financial crisis [2] provided the rise of "academic capitalism" [2].…”

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“…Nesta ótica, o presente estudo enfatiza também componentes de inclusão social ligadas à sociedade digital, na qual a literacia e as competências tecnológicas são essenciais (van Deursen & van Dijk, 2015). A análise realizada nesta vertente de inclusão procura ainda destacar os quadros institucionais mais ou menos facilitadores no acesso a serviços de bem-estar, nomeadamente de saúde, educação e segurança social, através dos quais os cidadãos constroem a sua perspetiva sobre o Estado social (Mauritti et al, 2020;Wilkinson & Pickett, 2009).…”

“…A saúde e educação representam dois pilares fundadores do modelo de Estado social europeu, servindo de referência nas apreciações que os cidadãos projetam relativamente à qualidade dos serviços públicos de bem-estar (Mauritti et al, 2020).…”