*CHANGES IN THE INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENT OF EU SOCIETIES. THEIR EFFECTS ON INEQUALITY AND SOCIAL COHESION
Levico (Trento), 2-7 July 2007*
The 2007 EQUALSOC Summer School was devoted to the problems of changes in the institutional arrangement of EU societies and their effects on inequality and social cohesion from both a theoretical and an empirical point of view.
The Topic
The general idea underlying the 2007 Equalsoc Summer School was that the degree of inequality and the level of both interpersonal solidarity and social cohesion observed in contemporary EU societies depends, among other things, on their respective institutional arrangement. This expression refers first, to the legal and social regulation of family, market and state and a set of related social spheres or institutions such as the educational system, the labour market, the welfare system, the system of citizenship. Second, the expression “institutional arrangement” refers to the relationships existing between all the above institutions and organisations. The features of their regulations and the shape of their reciprocal links mediate the effects of class, gender, birth cohort and age in a wide set of social inequalities such as educational attainments, employment opportunities, occupational destinations, level of living, health conditions, chances of cultural, social and political participation. This is why it can be said that the institutional arrangement of a society affects its inequality structure. Moreover, the institutional arrangements, together with cultural and normative systems, define rules regarding entitlements to citizenship, socially appropriated conduct, acceptable social way of life. From this point of view institutional arrangement contributes to the degree of tolerance of cultural and ethnic diversity, interpersonal solidarity and level of social cohesion.
In the last twenty years, all the above elements have undergone quite strong changes in most EU countries also because of the EU intervention itself. By and large it seems that market and EU have widened their importance, while national state and, above all, welfare systems have retrenched. The main results of this change are stronger inequality and weaker interpersonal solidarity, even though not necessarily reduced cohesion at societal level and not increased disparities between EU countries. Changes in the respective weight of market and state have not been the same everywhere and the same holds for their effects on both inequality structures and levels of interpersonal solidarity and tolerance of diversity. In some cases one could expect that classes have become more important compared to the past, while in some other cases gender and generation could influence individuals’ social positions and destinations more deeply than they used to do. Similar remarks can be formulated regarding the degree of cultural diversity tolerance. This is more so because strengthened inequalities and weakened welfare systems can make it difficult to integrate ethnic minorities and migrants in the European societies. As a consequences the latter can try to develop their own cultural systems and or strengthen the ethnic bases of their own personal and group identity.
The 2007 EQUALSOC Summer School was intended to promote interest of young scholars in comparative social research regarding the effects of institutional changes on inequality structures, cultural features and interpersonal solidarity. The School was organised as follows:
- 2nd Jul: Changes in school systems and the effects of class of origin, gender and ethnicity on educational inequalities First lecturer: W. Müller, MZES, Manheim Second lecturer: H. Van de Werfhorst, AIAS-Scholar, Amsterdam
- 3rd Jul: Labour market changes and intergenerational solidarity Lecturer: E. Reyneri, Università degli studi di Milano Bicocca Discussant: P. Barbieri, Università degli studi di Milano Bicocca Afternoon session coordinator: P. Barbieri, Università degli studi di Milano Bicocca
- 4th Jul: Changes in the pattern of EU and EU countries governance and their effects on welfare systems Lecturer: C. Whelan, ESRI Dublin. Discussant: A. Schizzerotto, University of Trento Afternoon session coordinator: I. Bison, University of Trento
v5th Jul: Immigration and citizenship policies and their effect on migrants integration; Lecturer: G. Sciortino, University of Trento. Discussant: H. Van de Werfhorst, AIAS-Scholar, Amsterdam
v6th Jul: Changes in welfare systems, gender regimes and inequalities between men and women Lecturer: J.O’Reilly, Univeristy of Sussex Discussant: T. Nazio, Nuffield College, Oxford Afternoon session coordinator: C. Solera, University of Trento - 7th Jul: Cultural and ethnic cleavages and levels of social cohesion Lecturer: M. Diani, University of Trento. Discussant: G. Sciortino, University of Trento
Each morning, a plenary lecture was given, followed by a general discussion. Each lecturer distributed a short list of compulsory readings one month in advance, in order to help students to actively take part in the discussion.
The afternoons were devoted to students’ presentations of their own papers (20’), followed by 15-20’ of discussion. Senior staff associated with the School chaired the sessions and steered the discussion. Students also acted as discussants of other papers. Students were allowed to present both theoretical and empirical papers.
The Ph. D. students (from EQUALSOC and non-EQUALSCOC institutions) admitted on the basis of an abstract of their papers and CVs were selected by the EQUALSOC training committee.
The Summer School was held at the Grand Hotel Bellavista, located in Levico, a nice village near Trento and surrounded by two lakes.