Samverkan med konkurrerande kunskapsanspråk inom lokal aktiveringspolitik

Abstract

Samverkan mellan Arbetsförmedlingen och kommunerna lyfts av staten upp som en kungsväg till framgångsrik lokal aktiveringspolitik. Detta problematiseras med utgångspunkt i organisationernas konkurrerande logiker. Resultatet visar att samverkan kan reproducera en aktiveringspolitik som både upprätthåller en svag ställning för de arbetslösa och riskerar att leda till lokalt godtycke.

Knowledge Claims on Municipalities in the Swedish Labor Market Policy

“…The first is that the municipalities have invested large sums, in that managers have made careers on activation, qualified staff have been employed, and physical premises have been designed and built for activation programs (Hollertz 2010;Ulmestig & Panican 2021). This institutionalization of municipal activation is labeled 'second-wave activation' by researchers (Lødemel & Moreira 2014;Murphy 2016), which can be exemplified by SALAR's (p. 8) argument about the incentives of the municipalities: Today's labor market policy system is a complex ecosystem in which many actors operate and contribute.…”

“…Despite the criticism from the municipalities, there appears to be some consensus since the late 1990s that municipalities have a responsibility for labor market policy, and most municipalities have their own employment service units, but still without legislative or other forms of national policy changes or public debates in the parliament (Ulmestig & Panican 2021;Viklund & Westerberg 2017). It is a mystery (see Alvesson & Kärreman 2012) why stakeholders within the labor market still think that it is a good idea to have a dual labor market policy where the municipalities activate the unemployed persons who have the highest thresholds, while there is a significant lack of labor.…”

“…Municipal labor market policy can, however, on an empirical level, also be described as a muddle where unemployed persons can have a low income from unemployment insurance and at the same time be eligible for social assistance from the municipality (Ulmestig & Panican 2021;Viklund & Westerberg 2017). Unemployed individuals can be activated through a municipal employment service unit, but contracted and financed by the PES (Panican & Johansson 2016;Thorén 2008).…”

“…Unemployed individuals can be activated through a municipal employment service unit, but contracted and financed by the PES (Panican & Johansson 2016;Thorén 2008). Many different forms of local inter-agency cooperation and agreements between the PES and the municipalities also blur the distinction between state and municipalities within labor market policy (Mellberg et al 2022;Ulmestig & Panican 2021). Furthermore, there are large variations between municipalities (Forslund et al 2019;Viklund & Westerberg 2017).…”