Barriers to participation in the social economy in Greece

<p>The current crisis in Greece, an EU member for over 30 years, has brought to the surface the character of the Greek politico-administrative system as it handles employment, migration and associated forms of social protection. Similarly, recent attempts at legislative reforms of the operatio...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: George Tsobanoglou
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Oñati International Institute for the Sociology of Law 2012-05-01
Series:Oñati Socio-Legal Series
Subjects:
Online Access:http://ssrn.com/abstract=2055697
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Summary:<p>The current crisis in Greece, an EU member for over 30 years, has brought to the surface the character of the Greek politico-administrative system as it handles employment, migration and associated forms of social protection. Similarly, recent attempts at legislative reforms of the operation of social economy enterprises have yet to be implemented, while the current legislation governing them, i.e. as Foundations, dates back to ...1939. The difficulties in recognising and regulating the social economy sector seem to emanate from the organisation of the overall employment security system in place.</p> <p>The employment relationship seems to be embedded within a bifurcated system of labour whereby the employment relationship is secure only in the public sector while the private sector is controlled by a precarious system of labour security, a separate health system and with its own political organisation. The lack of a unified national labour system does not allow the formation of a national system of employment (qualifications) and, hence, a way to overcome nepotism and the political (party) patronage system which defines, in a determining way, labour relations. This division is maintained by the politico-administrative labour regime put in place, under the extra-ordinary political situation that emerged after World War II (WWII).</p> <p>The paper explores this hidden reality defining the organisation of the employment system in Greece, its politico-administrative controls that seem to aim at &lsquo;arresting&rsquo; the emergence of a social economy. This leads to a hidden social economy of a fragmented private labour market, which is regulated separately from the secure &ldquo;public&rdquo; employment sector. This rather anachronistic and discriminatory system of political order of labour divides workers in Greece.</p> <hr /><p>La actual crisis en Grecia, miembro de la UE desde hace m&aacute;s de 30 a&ntilde;os, ha revelado el verdadero car&aacute;cter del sistema pol&iacute;tico-administrativo griego, de la forma en la que gestiona el empleo, la migraci&oacute;n y la protecci&oacute;n social. Del mismo modo, los recientes intentos de reformas legislativas en relaci&oacute;n a empresas de econom&iacute;a social todav&iacute;a no se han implementado, mientras que la legislaci&oacute;n vigente sobre este tipo de instituciones (por ejemplo, Fundaciones), se remonta a... 1939. Las dificultades en el reconocimiento y la regulaci&oacute;n del sector de la econom&iacute;a social parecen surgir de la organizaci&oacute;n general del sistema de seguridad en el empleo.</p><p>Las relaciones laborales est&aacute;n enmarcadas en un sistema de trabajo bifurcado, en el que la seguridad laboral s&oacute;lo existe en el sector p&uacute;blico, mientras que en el sector privado predomina la precariedad, tiene un sistema de salud diferenciado, y su propia organizaci&oacute;n pol&iacute;tica. La falta de un sistema nacional unificado de trabajo no permite la formaci&oacute;n de un sistema nacional de empleo (titulaciones) ni, por tanto, superar el nepotismo y la influencia pol&iacute;tica (el partido) que define, de una manera determinante, las relaciones laborales. Esta divisi&oacute;n pol&iacute;tico-administrativa surgi&oacute; a ra&iacute;z de la situaci&oacute;n pol&iacute;tica extraordinaria que se dio tras la 2&ordf; Guerra Mundial, y se mantiene hasta la actualidad.</p><p>El ensayo analiza esa realidad oculta, definiendo la organizaci&oacute;n del sistema laboral griego, sus controles pol&iacute;tico-administrativos, aparentemente destinados a 'detener' el surgimiento de una econom&iacute;a social. Esto ha dado lugar a una econom&iacute;a social sumergida, dentro de un mercado laboral privado fragmentado, regulado de forma diferente al sector de empleo &ldquo;p&uacute;blico&rdquo;. Este sistema, anacr&oacute;nico y discriminatorio, divide a los trabajadores en Grecia.</p> <p><strong>DOWNLOAD THIS PAPER FROM SSRN</strong>: <a title="Barriers to Participation in the Social Economy in Greece. SSRN" href="http://ssrn.com/abstract=2055697" target="_blank">http://ssrn.com/abstract=2055697</a></p>
ISSN:2079-5971