[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv id=\u0022republish_modal_form\u0022\u003E\u003Cform class=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form ecl-form\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 action=\u0022\/en\/article\/modal\/10370\u0022 method=\u0022post\u0022 id=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 accept-charset=\u0022UTF-8\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHorizon articles can be republished for free under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EYou must give appropriate credit. We ask you to do this by:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 1) Using the original journalist\u0027s byline\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 2) Linking back to our original story\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 3) Using the following text in the footer: This article was originally published in \u003Ca href=\u0027#\u0027\u003EHorizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003ESee our full republication guidelines \u003Ca href=\u0027\/horizon-magazine\/republish-our-stories\u0027\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EHTML for this article, including the attribution and page view counter, is below:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-form-item form-item js-form-type-textarea form-item-body-content js-form-item-body-content ecl-form-group ecl-form-group--text-area form-no-label ecl-u-mv-m\u0022\u003E\n \n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Ctextarea data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 aria-describedby=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 id=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 name=\u0022body_content\u0022 rows=\u00225\u0022 cols=\u002260\u0022 class=\u0022form-textarea ecl-text-area\u0022\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EOn social welfare, views in EU can surprise and emerging markets bring new perspectives \u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMore than half of a century of economic and political integration in the EU has stripped away many taboos about pooling national powers in a third area: social policy.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhile welfare firmly remains the responsibility of Member States, the case for EU institutions to play a stronger role in social matters such as wage rules, pension benefits, unemployment assistance and gender equality has gained ground.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe eurozone crisis and more recent Covid-19 pandemic have reinforced the case by widening economic and social \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.eurofound.europa.eu\/publications\/report\/2023\/economic-and-social-inequalities-in-europe-in-the-aftermath-of-the-covid-19-pandemic\u0022\u003Edisparities\u003C\/a\u003E across the EU.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHorizon Magazine asked two leading researchers in EU-funded projects on social welfare \u2013 Sharon Baute of \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cordis.europa.eu\/project\/id\/840191\u0022\u003EEUSOCDIV\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;and Erdem Y\u00f6r\u00fck of \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cordis.europa.eu\/project\/id\/714868\u0022\u003EEmergingWelfare\u003C\/a\u003E \u2013 to share their main findings.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEUSOCDIV examined public attitudes towards the notion of \u201csocial Europe\u201d. EmergingWelfare, whose funding came through the European Research Council, looked outside the EU at social security systems in six emerging economies.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESharon Baute\u003C\/strong\u003E, EUSOCDIV and assistant professor of comparative social policy at the University of Konstanz in Germany. Her research covers social policy, European integration and Euroscepticism, focusing in particular on public attitudes toward the welfare dimension of the EU.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cfigure role=\u0022group\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cimg alt=\u0022Sharon Baute\u0022 data-entity-type=\u0022file\u0022 data-entity-uuid=\u00220ce0a67c-81d1-40d2-8621-7a5ed91b2276\u0022 src=\u0022\/sites\/default\/files\/hm\/IMCEUpload\/woman%20-%20small_1.jpg\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cfigcaption class=\u0022tw-italic tw-mb-4\u0022\u003ESharon Baute\u003C\/figcaption\u003E\n\u003C\/figure\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat were the project\u2019s main findings on public views of \u201csocial Europe\u201d?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECitizens perceive social Europe mainly as solidarity between states rather than between individuals. In countries that have more generous social protection, citizens tend to be less supportive of an EU-level initiative in this area because they can already rely on an efficient social safety net in their home country.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe less generous national welfare provisions are, the higher the public\u2019s expectations regarding the EU\u2019s role in the social area. Citizens are expecting their country to benefit from upwards convergence through more EU decision-making.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDid the research produce any surprises?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EYes. We knew that people can attribute blame for economic outcomes to various actors. For instance, they may have certain beliefs about why some people live in poverty or why some countries perform less well than others in terms of economic growth and employment. However, we did not yet know that attributing blame towards the EU itself is associated with a stronger demand for a social Europe.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis is a positive sign as it indicates that criticism towards the EU does not necessarily result in hard Euroscepticism. Instead, it can be mobilised into support for further European integration steps \u2013 if these have a strong social dimension.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGenerally, it is the lower educated socio-economic status groups who are \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.tandfonline.com\/doi\/full\/10.1080\/13511610.2021.1964350\u0022\u003Emore Eurosceptic\u003C\/a\u003E. However, I found that these segments of society are often most in favour of a stronger social Europe.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt seems that they dislike the EU in its current form while being supportive of more European integration in the social area. This shows that public attitudes are complex and cannot be simplified when debating the future of European integration.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHow nuanced are views of \u201csocial Europe\u201d?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEuropeans have more nuanced opinions on social Europe than is often assumed. Public attitudes towards social Europe cannot be reduced to a single pro-versus-anti social Europe stance. The research shows that attitudes are much more complex than that. Citizens\u2019 attitudes really depend on what specific policy principle or instrument is at stake.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENonetheless, I found similarities in support of certain policies. For instance, there is a universal ranking order on how deserving one considers specific groups in society of European solidarity. In all the countries that were part of the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.tandfonline.com\/doi\/full\/10.1080\/01402382.2022.2126679\u0022\u003Estudy\u003C\/a\u003E, disadvantaged children were considered as more deserving of financial support than the poor, who are in turn perceived as more deserving than the unemployed.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat degree of public support exists for EU-level initiatives in this area?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThree broad factors determine the level of public support. First, the policy design itself matters. EU policies that have some form of\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/full\/10.1111\/jcms.13283\u0022\u003Econditionality\u003C\/a\u003E \u2013 the principle that benefits are tied to obligations for people to behave responsibly \u2013 are generally more popular.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESecond, support depends on individual-level characteristics, with lower socio-economic groups and left-wing oriented voters among the strongest advocates of a social Europe.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThird, support depends on the Member State in which citizens live. In this regard, the project revealed an East-West and North-South divide, with citizens in eastern and southern Europe being the most supportive of EU-level initiatives that provide financial assistance to vulnerable groups in society.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EErdem Y\u00f6r\u00fck, \u003C\/strong\u003EEmergingWelfare and associate professor\u0026nbsp;in the Department of Sociology at Ko\u00e7 University in Turkey. His focal points include social movements and welfare.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cfigure role=\u0022group\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cimg alt=\u0022Erdem Y\u00f6r\u00fck\u0022 data-entity-type=\u0022file\u0022 data-entity-uuid=\u00228a94b213-f028-4bc5-8f82-abd86786bb05\u0022 src=\u0022\/sites\/default\/files\/hm\/IMCEUpload\/man%20-%20small_1.jpg\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cfigcaption class=\u0022tw-italic tw-mb-4\u0022\u003EErdem Y\u00f6r\u00fck\u003C\/figcaption\u003E\n\u003C\/figure\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat is the broad context for welfare regimes in Argentina, Brazil, China, India, South Africa and Turkey?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBefore the 2000s, poor people from rural areas or slums were mostly excluded from the welfare state. But after the 2000s, the welfare-state model rapidly expanded to cover these populations. This meant that more disadvantaged people had access to social-assistance benefits for the first time. This was a historical moment.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEmerging-market economies such as Brazil, South Africa and Turkey differ from liberal, corporatist and social-democratic welfare regimes of the Global North in terms of their composition and generosity. In these emerging markets, the welfare state\u2019s focus is on social assistance programmes mainly because the poor are the main actors in terms of political grassroots activism and popular support for governments.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat are the resulting political challenges?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGovernments in these countries are developing social-welfare programmes not just to combat poverty but also, and mainly, as a political instrument to contain social unrest and to gain popular support.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECitizen movements demand more structural reforms, but they are provided with social assistance. This is what we call demobilisation by substitution.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHow did you decide which countries to examine?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPrevious studies on welfare regimes have had a mostly Eurocentric view and our aim was to extend it to a global scope. This is the first comparative project on the politics of welfare regimes with a global outlook and I wanted to understand the position of emerging markets.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThese emerging markets are characterised by rapid economic development and by huge income and social inequalities. I chose these specific countries to ensure geographical, cultural and historical diversity. I set out to show that, independently of the government party\u2019s ideology, independently of geographical and cultural differences, if similar grassroots political paths are taken this leads to similar social-policy outcomes.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAre the results relevant for the Global North?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAbsolutely. Rising poverty and radical movements, ethnic or religious for example, are happening in western countries too. Governments are using welfare benefits to deal with problems and most likely what we see in the Global South will occur in the Global North.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOverall, there is a trend towards increased social assistance, as our global \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/glow.ku.edu.tr\/\u0022\u003Ewelfare dataset\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;illustrates. Furthermore, different countries that experience similar political needs are learning from each other and are building similar welfare states. So comparisons are really useful to understand the internal dynamics of welfare states too.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EResearch in this article was funded via the EU\u2019s European Research Council (ERC) and the Marie Sk\u0142odowska-Curie Actions (MSCA). 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