Back to search

INTPART-International Partnerships for Excellent Education and Research

Work Inclusion in North and South: Comparative Urban Contexts

Alternative title: Work Inclusion in North and South: Comparative Urban Contexts

Awarded: NOK 4.5 mill.

The WINS project focuses on how work inclusion may improve the social inclusion of marginalized individuals. Some amount of socioeconomic inequality has for a long time been tolerated as necessary to motivate individuals to contribute to economic growth. However, social inequality and exclusion are now increasingly recognized in the policy world as factors that may prevent such growth. In recent years, social inclusion has become a key policy concern in EU strategy documents and funding calls, and an increasingly important focus for global NGOs. In the Global North and South, policy discussions now overwhelmingly focus on improving socioeconomic inclusion through the development of human capital. Despite this changing rhetorical emphasis, social policy measures and social work practice still lag behind, and they operate primarily with the aim of improving the problematic motivations and relations of individuals. The alternative is to consider the individuals targeted for support as actors located within problematic structural, social and institutional contexts. The educational and research activities of the WINS project put this perspective into the forefront, emphasizing the labor market-, social- and institutional contexts within which work inclusion measures take place, with particular focus on measures implemented within the workplace. We will apply an innovative theoretical framework refined in the qualifying research project to teach, discuss and develop research on how working inclusion affects the dignity, well-being and socioeconomic status of individuals in the urban contexts of Oslo and Bangalore. The WINS team is well placed to be a world leader in the comparative study of global work inclusion.

In 2021, we have focused many of our efforts (and budget) on the development of an online platform for international online collaborations ? Eduflow. We will use the platform in a funded, Nordic educational collaboration on international social work with the Universities of Stockholm and Helsinki in spring 2022 and beyond. We have also published a number of articles and chapters, and are working on the publication of an edited book, with estimated publication in 2023.

The WINS project focuses on how work inclusion may improve the social inclusion of marginalized individuals. Some amount of socioeconomic inequality has for a long time been tolerated as necessary to motivate individuals to contribute to economic growth. However, social inequality and exclusion are now increasingly recognized in the policy world as factors that may prevent such growth. In recent years, social inclusion has become a key policy concern in EU strategy documents and funding calls, and an increasingly important focus for global NGOs. In the Global North and South, policy discussions now overwhelmingly focus on improving socioeconomic inclusion through the development of human capital. Despite this changing rhetorical emphasis, social policy measures and social work practice still lag behind and operate primarily with the aim of improving the problematic motivations and relations of individuals. The alternative is to consider the individuals targeted for support as actors located within problematic structural, social and institutional contexts. The educational and research activities of the WINS project put this perspective into the forefront, emphasizing the labour market-, social- and institutional contexts within which work inclusion measures take place, with particular focus on measures implemented within the workplace. We will apply an innovative theoretical framework refined in the qualifying research project to teach, discuss and develop research on how working inclusion affects the dignity, wellbeing and socioeconomic status of individuals in the urban contexts of Oslo and Bangalore. The WINS team is well placed to be a world leader in the comparative study of global work inclusion. It will retain the solid collaboration that resulted in impressive impact in earlier studies, while also adding new partner experts in the fields of labour and urban studies.

Funding scheme:

INTPART-International Partnerships for Excellent Education and Research