Wilfred Boele

Fields of interest
- Activation policies
- Young people with disabilities
- Decentralized social welfare
- History of the welfare state
- Process-tracing

PhD-study
From about the mid-1970s the idea became popular that the social security policies which developed after World War II created harmful effects on the market economy and on beneficiaries’ well-being. In order to solve this, activation policies have been implemented in European welfare states, supporting beneficiaries to obtain and retain a job. The introduction of these activation policies has been accompanied by significant governance changes, including decentralization. This decentralization is mainly founded on the idea that local governments, consisting of relatively small units, are outgoing and flexible, enabling them to provide for matters that are often regarded as very important in the context of activation. These matters mainly boil down to meaningful cooperation among policy fields and actors relevant in the context of activation, as well as adaptation of activation services to local circumstances.
My PhD study seeks to give in-depth insight into how local activation approaches actually look like and into factors explaining their development. The study focuses on the activation of young people with disabilities within four Dutch municipalities. By doing so, the study reveals to what extent local activation approaches are actually characterized by meaningful cooperation among relevant policy fields and relevant actors, as well as by adaptation to local circumstances.

Bachelorwerkgroep 1

PhD-student
Department of Political Science and Public Administration
T: +31 (0)20 59 820 96
E: w.boele@vu.nl
Room: 2E-51

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