Social Work and Social Policy Transformations in Central and Southeast Europe

This book provides a picture of recent developments in social policy and social work in Central and Southeast Europe, especially trends after the COVID-19 pandemic, which necessitated significant welfare modifications. Through a comparative method, the book draws analytical conclusions about the interdependence between welfare state reforms and social work practices in Central and Southeast Europe and provides an overview of future perspectives regarding social policy and social service provision in this region. The book covers four EU member states (Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Croatia) and three EU candidate countries (North Macedonia, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina). By critically contextualising existing welfare state categorisations, the book aims to examine the link between the welfare state reforms and implications for social work in Central and Southeast Europe.

The country-based chapters of this contributed volume:

• outline the context in which social policy and social work have developed and map the main changes in the welfare state since the transition from socialism;
• elaborate the country-specific welfare state discourse and discussions, which through literature review depict the conceptual debates about the welfare state, social justice, equality, poverty, entitlements for cash transfer and services, privatization, and accessibility;
• indicate the key challenges in social policy and social work; and
• provide indications about the future perspectives of social policy and social service provision.

Social Work and Social Policy Transformations in Central and Southeast Europe addresses the scarcity of literature on social policy and social work in this region. The book is primarily intended for social policy researchers and scholars, and students in social work, social policy, political science, and sociology. It is an invaluable resource for researchers from all fields of social sciences and should provoke wider academic and professional interest.

"The common themes of transformation, restructuring and crises, synthesized in excellent Introductory and Concluding chapters, make the book an essential source for an understanding of contemporary policies and practices, the complex role played by historical legacies, and offer a model of what a comparative policy approach should look like".

-Paul Stubbs, Senior Research Fellow, The Institute of Economics, Zagreb, Croatia

Auteur

Maja Gerovska Mitev is a Professor of Social Policy at the Institute of Social Work and Social Policy, Faculty of Philosophy, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, North Macedonia. Her research interests are focused on examination of the changing nature of the welfare systems and its impact on poverty and social exclusion, inequalities in access to social protection, as well as essential services for low-income people. She is editor-in-chief of the journal /Journal of Social Policy; a National Coordinator for North Macedonia in the European Social Policy Analysis Network (ESPAN); and academic coordinator of the Central European Social Policy and Social Work Network (CESPASWON) within the CEEPUS program.