Activation and activation policies

This project focuses on the new face of welfare, epitomised as activation policies and active citizenship. The project employs a broad as well as a narrow definition of activation. The broad definition is anchored in the Rein-Meidner model, whereas the narrow definition focuses on the rebalancing of rights and obligations, including the reduction in benefits targeted at specific vulnerable groups such as immigrants etc. In Denmark, for instance, immigrants have directly as well as indirectly been subject to changes in welfare policies in the form of the so-called start-help as well as the 300-hours rule (now changed to a 450 hour rule), and it is expected that these reductions in benefits will intensify search processes. Furthermore, the project focuses on the implementation processes of activation as well as activation out-comes. Questions raised are whether activation improves the welfare of the client and whether activation decrease or increase individual autonomy.