The dark side of the moon. Generative mechanisms and perverse effects in the implementation of Italian poverty reduction policies (presentation)

Abstract

In recent years, also due to the economic crisis, the fight against poverty has finally entered the Italian political agenda. Several measures, at first experimental and then extended in a structural manner to the whole country followed one another in a short period of time, generating at the same time expectations and ‘bottlenecks’. The social services system has been and will continue to be a key player in this process. Our contribution, based on qualitative research work developed over the last few years, aims to develop an analysis of the implementation of three measures using the ‘street-level bureaucracy’ approach. The focus of the analysis is to identify the ‘double-face’ of social workers: as agents of change and as passive recipients, coping with the constant changes actuated by policy makers.