Combatting the Causes of Inequality Affecting Young People Across Europe by Mikael Stigendal

Author:Mikael Stigendal [Stigendal, Mikael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, General, Sociology
ISBN: 9781351848244
Google: ZRdWDwAAQBAJ
Barnesnoble:
Goodreads: 32452471
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2018-04-19T00:00:00+00:00

The “Rotterdam-Buzinezzclub” claims to be “the opposite of the acclaimed ‘hit and run’ mentality of many re-integration firms”, as the report puts it, “there is ample evidence that this is true, in theory and practice”. The authors may be right, but when many companies turn into an accumulation of capital by dispossession, it seems important to scrutinise the selectivity of these social structures.

As the authors of the report write, the “Rotterdam-Buzinezzclub” in Rotterdam “addresses the unemployment of young people with few chances in the labour market. It is a private, for profit, initiative aimed at developing entrepreneurship among young people on social assistance by broadening their network and their skills.” The young participants receive support in “developing their ideas into realistic business plan, or towards new plans for picking up education again or for more successful ways of trying to enter the labour market.” A partnership has been formalised by the use of a Social Impact Bond (SIB). This is a financial construction in which private parties invest in solving a social problem that costs the local government a lot of money. The local government pays back with the money it is saving, including possible interest. The faster young people move out of the allowance system, the higher the interest. On the other hand, the “Rotterdam-Buzinezzclub” and investors run the financial risk; the municipality does not. To the extent that the re-integration of young people fails and they do not move out of the allowance system, the “Rotterdam-Buzinezzclub” and its investors have to pay the cost.

This construction puts a pressure on the “Rotterdam-Buzinezzclub” to succeed in accordance with the predetermined goals and also to do it as fast as possible. That raises several urgent questions. What space does this enable for the young people to be critical? How can they be fostered to become critical citizens? Will such a fostering not contradict the demands for a profit as it takes too much time? Obviously, the “Rotterdam-Buzinezzclub” does not address the causes of inequality, but does it not actually entail an interest in preserving the causes? The whole business idea relies on the existence of causes that generate a constant flow of affected young people. All these participants are unemployed and without basic qualifications. They are all selected by the municipal Youth Coaches. That makes the “Rotterdam-Buzinezzclub” dependent on the municipality and its employees at the Youth Counter. According to the Director of the Buzinezzclub, this is a key problem and he describes the municipality as monopolist. “At the same time”, the authors of the report remind us, “the fact that the Buzinezzclub is one of the few organisations allowed to deal with the ‘monopolist’ gives it a clear advantage.”

But what happens if the “Rotterdam-Buzinezzclub” loses its own monopoly and the municipality opens up for competition? That would probably increase the pressure on the companies to succeed with the predetermined goals even faster, probably then also to the detriment of fostering young people to become critical citizens. There may then also arise a competition for investors.

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