| The European Journal of Social Quality Published by Berghahn Books (www.berghahnbooks.com) |
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| Special Announcement please click here >>> |
| The Journal's mission statement |
| The Journal's mission statement aims to reclaim the central values of social experience and participative democracy. This independent, peer-reviewed journal challenges technocratic, narrowly economic visions of the new Europe. Its aim is to contribute to developing the concept of social quality: the extent to which citizens can participate in the social and economic life of their communities under conditions, which enhance their well-being and individual potential. Innovative, cross-disciplinary approaches to social issues and policy debates seek to broaden social science scholarship and to emphasise the importance of the social sphere and of civil dialogue in shaping the very nature and identity of the European Union. |
| The Journal's history and content |
| In 1999, Berghahn Books launched The European Journal of Social Quality, in collaboration with Kingston University and in association with the European Foundation on Social Quality. The purpose of this independent, peer-reviewed journal is to promote the discussion and analysis of contemporary social issues in Europe. Four volumes and eight issues of the journal have now been published. You will find a list of the articles from these issues on the following page. All contributions have addressed in one way or another: (i) the one-sided economistic approach to develop the future of Europe; (ii) the development of interdisciplinary approaches by the new social quality theory and (iii) addressing the current lack of conceptual coherence in the European academic world. Beyond these themes, contributions have sought to (iv) encourage the application of outcomes to different policy areas and represent citizens in the shaping of the new identity of Europe. This latter point is of particular interest, since an appreciation of citizenship in the context of social quality plays a significant role in the theory and thinking advanced by the journal: 'citizenship is, or should be the foundation of identity in the social contract within a modern democracy, as well as the principle by which relationships between individuals and their communities are organised. It is, therefore, not surprising that debates about citizenship are concerned with the level and type of social rights and duties, and with the protection of welfare and quality of life.' (see: www.berghahnbooks.com). | ![]() |
| Forthcoming issues Special Announcement please click here >>> |
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| Previous Issues Volume 6, Issue 2, 2006 Social Quality and Modern Public Health: Developing a Framework for the Twenty-First Century Public Health Issues with guest editor Paul Ward, Flinders University Australia and contributions by: -Paul Ward, Paul Redgrave and Cathy Read: Operationalizing the Theory of Social Quality: Theoretical and Experiential Reflections from the Development and Implementation of a Public Health Programme in the UK -Ota de Leonardis: Social Capital and Health, Research Findings and Questions on a Modern Public Health Perspective -Johan van de Kerckhove: Towards a New Philosophy in the Prevention Strategy on Health and Safety at Work: Pro-activity and Well-being -Oeij, Dhondt, Wiezer: Conditions for Low-Stress Risk Jobs: Europe's Case -Bissell: Social Capital and Community Pharmacy: an exploratory study -Peter Taylor-Gooby: The Rational Actor Reform Paradigm: Delivering the Goods but Destroying Public Trust -Paul Ward: Trust, Reflexivity and Dependence: A 'Social Systems Theory' Analysis in/of Medicine -Denis Bouget: Book review on David Phillips's book Quality of Life, Concept, Policy and Practice, 2006. The focus of this special issue of the European Journal of Social Quality is to explore and understand the utility, relevance and operationalisation of the Theory of Social Quality for public health policy and practice. Paul Ward writes in his editorial: 'As such, the Theory of Social Quality has great potential in public health by acting as a mechanism of (or conduit for) 'knowledge transfer' between research and policy/practice. It can provide the theoretical framework for understanding public health problems in addition to engaging with the policy relevant domains: a lens through which academics, policy makers and public health practitioners can understand and conceptualise their 'lifeworlds' in addition to developing meaningful outcomes. In other words, the Theory of Social Quality can make sense of theory, policy and practice, thus facilitating dialogue between members of the respective 'camps'.' Volume 6, Issue 1, 2006 The European Social Model and European Values - Issues of Convergence and Divergence As David Phillips writes in his editorial: 'A central question running through several papers relates to convergence: are European societies converging and, if so, then to what are they converging? Is the European Social Model still viable or is the enlarged EU moving inexorably towards a 'race to the bottom' in the context of trying to reach the Lisbon goal of becoming the world's most dynamic and competitive economy, in the dog-eat-dog political economy of an unstoppable globalisation?' Contents: -Editorial: Social Quality, Values, Convergence and the European Social Model, David Phillips -Social Quality in Rousseau, Paule-Monique Vernes -Social Quality - Opening Individual Well-Being for a Social Perspective, Peter Herrmann -Covenants, External Effects and Employability, Ton Korver and Peter R.A. Oeij -Exporting or Pulling Down? The European Social Model and Eastern Enlargement of the EU, Gábor Juhász -Convergence in Social Welfare Systems: From Evidence to Explanations, Denis Bouget -Uniting Europeans by Values: A Feasible Enterprise?, Jan Berting Volume 5, Issues 1&2, 2005 This Volume presents a compilation of articles produced by the participants of the European Network on Indicators of Social Quality, based on their reports about the application of the new social quality indicators in fourteen European countries (Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the UK). In these papers the first results of the application of indicators of social quality are discussed and interpreted. The views of two important NGOs are presented in papers by the European Anti-Poverty Network (EAPN) and the International Council on Social Welfare (ICSW), European Region. As Professor Dave Gordon of Bristol University writes in his editorial: 'It is clear that any project for producing internationally comparable operational measures of Social Quality faces huge intellectual and practical difficulties. However, the papers in this issue show that a great progress has been made by the ENIQ project and that an empirical framework for social quality research has now been successfully established.' -Editorial: Indicators of Social Quality, David Gordon -Indicators of Social Quality: Outcomes of the European Scientific Network, Laurent J.G. van der Maesen and Alan C. Walker -Indicators of Social Quality: Outcomes for Belgium, Veerle de Maesschalck -Social Quality in Britain: A Welfare State?, Sue Hacking -Social Quality in Finland, Mika Vuori, Mika Gissler and the National Group of Experts -Social Quality: The French Case, Denis Bouget and Frederic Salladarré -Social Quality in Germany, Michael Ebert, Ilona Ostner, Uschi Brand and Steffen Kühnel -The 'Social Quality' Perspective in Greece, Maria Petmesidou and Periklis Polyzoidis -Social Quality in Hungary: In the Framework of ENIQ, Szilvia Altorjai and Erzsébet Bukodi -The Irish National Report, Séamus Ó Cinneide, Jean Cushen and Fearghas Ó Gabhan -Social Quality in Italy, Chiara Saraceno and Susanna Terracina -European Network on Indicators of Social Quality: Summary of the Dutch National Report, P. Steffens and Chris R.J. de Neubourg -Portugal - Reflecting on the Context and the Conditional Factors, Pedro Perista, Heloisa Perista and Isabel Baptista -Social Quality in Slovenia: Emergent Individual Risks and Disappearing Fora to Discuss Them, Masa Filipovic, and Ruzica Boskic, Srna Mandic -Social Quality in Spain, Juan Monreal and Salvadora Titos -Social Quality in Sweden, Göran Therborn and Sonia Therborn -Indicators of Social Quality and the Anti-Poverty Strategies, Barbara Demeyer and Fintan Farrell -The View from ICSW, Aki Siltaniemi and Marja-Liisa Kauppinen -Empowerment: The Core of Social Quality, Peter Herrmann The article on Indicators of Social Quality: Outcomes of the European Scientific Network, Laurent J.G. van der Maesen and Alan C. Walker can be downloaded here. Volume 4, Double issue 1 & 2 (2003): Flexibility and Security in Employment This double issue of the Journal , which gathers a number of papers produced in the context of a research project recently conducted by the European Foundation on Social Quality and nine European partners, is again devoted to the crucial policy-field of employment. Indeed, at national and European Union levels, employment continues to be the most difficult and conflict-ridden part of the social and economic policy agenda, as it has been for the best part of the last three decades. Contents Editorial - From Unemployment to Flexicurity - Opportunities and Issues for Social Quality in the World of Work in Europe - François Nectoux and Laurent van der Maesen Social Quality, Employment and its Flexicurity - Laurent van der Maesen Flexible and Secure: Adaptability and the Employment Relationship - Joint Report Team: Dave Gordon, Joyce Hamilton, Ton Korver, Laurent van der Maesen, Monica Threlfall, Ruud Vlek, Georg Vobruba Working Time and Time for Care in Europe - Joint Report Team: Dave Gordon, Joyce Hamilton, Ton Korver, Laurent van der Maesen, Monica Threlfall, Ruud Vlek, Georg Vobruba Social Quality and the Policy Domain of Employment in Belgium - Jozef Pacolet and An Marchal Social Quality and the Policy Domain of Employment in Finland - Pekka Kosonen and Jukka Vänskä Social Quality and the Policy Domain of Employment in Hungary - Erzsébet Bukodi and Péter Róbert Social Quality and the Policy Domain of Employment in the Netherlands - Ton Korver Social Quality and the Policy Domain of Employment in Portugal - Heloisa M. Perista and Pedro Perista Review: A Review of A. van Bruggen's Individual Production of Social Well-Being - Jan Berting |
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| Contributions The European Journal of Social Quality welcomes submissions for consideration. Articles must be in English, and should not normally exceed 50,000 characters including notes, bibliography, etc. (approximately 17 pages). All contributions should be submitted as two, double-spaced typescripts printed on one side only. They should be accompanied by a disc copy in Microsoft Word for Windows 2.0 or Word Perfect 5.0 or above. Please mark discs clearly with (a) the label, path, file type and file name; (b) exact programme ussed and (c) author's name and postal, fax and/or e-mail address. A short CV (five lines) with your address or affiliation should also be enclosed. Send submissions to: Dr. L.J.G. van der Maesen European Foundation on Social Quality Keizersgracht 324 1016 EZ Amsterdam Tel: +31 20 626 23 21 Fax: +31 20 6249368 Email: EFSQ@felix.meritis.nl |
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| How do I subscribe? For more information you can contact: Berghahn Books Email (UK): BerghahnUK@aol.com Email (US): BerghahnUS@aol.com For subscription details you can also visit their website: www.berghahnbooks.com |
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