The aim of this article is to present some contributions to the understanding of social inequality in Europe today. We analyse the distributional inequalities of economic and educational resources as well as the categorical inequalities between nation states and between social classes. The source of the empirical data was the European Social Survey 2012. We were able to calculate European income deciles, build a matrix of class-country segments, and analyse the intersections of this structural matrix with the distributions of income and schooling. The results reveal high degrees of distributional inequality in Europe. They also show the structural configurations assumed in Europe by the intersection of distributive and categorical inequalities.Keywords inequality, Europe, income, education, class.Resumo O objetivo deste artigo é apresentar alguns contributos para a compreensão das desigualdades sociais na Europa atual. Analisam-se as desigualdades distributivas de recursos económicos e educativos assim como as desigualdades categoriais entre estados nacionais e entre classes sociais. A fonte de informação empírica foi o European Social Survey 2012. Foi possível calcular decis europeus de rendimentos, construir uma matriz de segmentos classe-país, e analisar as interseções dessa matriz estrutural com as distribuições de rendimentos e escolaridades. Os resultados revelam graus elevados de desigualdade distributiva na Europa. Mostram também as configurações estruturais assumidas na Europa pelas interseções de desigualdades distributivas e categoriais.Palavras-chave desigualdades, Europa, rendimento, educação, classe.Résumé L'objectif de cet article est de présenter quelques contributions pour la compréhension des inégalités sociales observées aujourd'hui en Europe. L'analyse porte sur les inégalités distributives de ressources économiques et éducatives ainsi que sur les inégalités catégorielles entre États nationaux et entre classes sociales. La source d'information empirique a été l'Enquête sociale européenne (ESS) 2012. Il a été possible de calculer les déciles européens de revenus, de construire une matrice de segments classe-pays et d'analyser les intersections de cette matrice structurelle avec les distributions de revenus et de scolarités. Les résultats révèlent des niveaux élevés d'inégalité distributive en Europe. Ils montrent aussi les configurations structurelles que prennent en Europe les intersections d'inégalités distributives et catégorielles.Mots-clés inégalités, Europe, revenu, éducation, classe.SOCIOLOGIA, PROBLEMAS E PRÁTICAS, n.º 81, 2016, pp. 75-93.
ResumoCom a expansão generalizada das qualificações na Europa, algumas abordagens têm vindo a defender que a dimensão educativa se tem enfraquecido enquanto fator implicado na mobilidade social e como elemento estrutural nas desigualdades e oportunidades sociais. Este estudo perspetiva, quer nos seus posicionamentos teóricos quer na sua verificação empírica, as desigualdades educacionais e as suas implicações na mobilidade e nas desigualdades sociais entre países do Sul, e entre este conjunto e a Europa no seu todo. Esta análise é, ainda, contextualizada através do reconhecimento de dinâmicas educacionais dos últimos 60 anos. O seu desenvolvimento visa, também, aprofundar a importância das origens educativas nos destinos educativos e socioprofissionais e identificar padrões de fluidez educativa e de desigualdade educacional, contextualizando-os no quadro de transições educacionais diferenciadas em termos nacionais. O inquérito internacional European Social Survey (2012) é a referência empírica central.Palavras-chave Desigualdades educativas; Mobilidade social; Europa do sul; Contexto europeu
This article focuses on welfare retrenchment in Portugal by analysing the evolution of public sector employment up until 2013. A multidimensional analysis of the structure of public employment in the Portuguese state was developed, theoretically guided by the ‘hands of the state’ model proposed by Bourdieu, which divides the main functions of contemporary states between its left hand (more redistributive) and its right hand (more rational economic-oriented). Bourdieu’s approach is especially useful in addressing the transformations of the Portuguese public employment between 1979 and 2013, characterized by specific economic, social and political changes. In 2013 – a year in which the adjustment measures agreed by the Portuguese government, the European Central Bank, the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund during the global crisis were especially intense – we observed the tendency towards the disqualification of public employment and the shrinking of the left hand of the Portuguese state. Public policy orientations in the areas of education and science were particularly troubling, considering the structural backwardness the country faces in these fields in the context of the European Union.
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