Abstract

MIDAGLIA SOUTO, Carmen  and  VILLEGAS PLA, Belén. Reconfiguring regional welfare through assistance: Uruguay in the 21st century. E&c [online]. 2018, vol.1, n.6, pp.23-46. ISSN 2477-9245.  https://doi.org/10.37228/estado_comunes.v1.n6.2018.68.

This paper discusses the social assistance policy in Uruguay between 2005 and 2015, and its complementarity with the rest of social services. In particular, we are interested in the relationship between social assistance and universal policies, in order to improve the architecture of the national protection system by incorporating traditionally excluded groups into the state provision. It is argued that the current social assistance policies in Uruguay are intrinsically fragmented due to the fact that there are a variety of policy framings about poverty and vulnerability coexisting in that type of social intervention. Therefore, there are articulation problems between those social assistance policies and the traditional social policies. The dispersed logic of social protection is reinforced by institutional arrangements without enough political authority and financial resources, both essential elements in order to coordinate social policies. Finally, due to the fact that the social assistance area is characterized by the absence of collective figures (unions, business organizations, etc.) the most relevant figures are technopols who develop their own interests in this intervention area.

Keywords : social assistance; ideas of poverty/vulnerability; fragmentation; political-technical interests; policy framing; social protection; Uruguay.

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