CAW Computer Aided Welfare State Revival by Technology? presented by Peter Fleissner

1. Meeting of theSlovenian Sociological SocietyPortoroz, 25-27 October 2001“Sociological Aspects of New Technologies” CAWComputer Aided Welfare StateRevival by Technology? presented by Peter Fleissner EUMC and University of Technology, Vienna, Austria

2. Outline • The welfare state • Definition and scope • Costs • Crisis factors • Targeted Intelligence Networks (TINs) • Peer group care • Study circles • Workers’ health assurance groups • Intrapreneurial Groups • Problems of Implementation

3. The European welfare state Michel Camdessus, former director of the International Monetary Fund: ”The twentieth century has seen countless achievements and changes. As historians look back on this period, two developments are likely to stand out as being among the most definitive of our time.….in Europe, this has led to the emergence of the welfare state. The other development … is globalization.”

4. The scope of the welfare state Main areas for provisions • retirement and old age • sickness / accident compensation and health insurance and delivery • education • full employment and unemployment compensation

5. The economic relevance of the welfare state up to 2010

6. Crisis factors • Demographic factors • declining fertility rates • longer life expectancy • demographic pyramids convert to rectangles • Economic factors • Reduced economic growth rates • Increased income levels • Chronically high unemployment - less solidarity • Political factors and public discourse • Decline of political movements defending the traditional welfare state • Decline of traditional grand narratives • Societal and institutional factors • Mosaic society; singles increase • over-bureaucratization

7. Example Austria: The shaken welfare state June 2001 Reorganisation of the Austrian Social Insurance Holding Organization by the new Austrian government Before: exclusively controlled by workers’ representatives Now: equal representation of enterprises and workers in the new management board. October 2001 A group of highly reputable persons started a referendum to have the welfare state moved into the constitution

8. Example: Austria

9. Example: Austria

10. The changed assessment of bureaucracy Max Weber: • Bureaucracy is “the most efficient form of exerting power” • success to compensate for demographic changes Today: • High costs, lack of effectiveness • Rigid, not flexible enough • “Coldness” • Taking responsibility away from people

11. Is there a way out? New possibilities come up by new technologies and new societal trends Transaction costs can be reduced New forms of organizations can emerge • Hierarchy levels can become less • Responsibility back to people Look for examples already in place

12. Transaction costs Consist of the following costs for • Activities of communication • E.g. the preparation, transmission, reception, interpretation of messages between two or more parties • Activities of coordination • E.g. related to the processes of fining an agreement, planning, and decision making processes • Activities of information • E.g. processes of browsing, searching, retrieving, interpreting, verifying

13. Transaction costs go down: Moore’s Law

14. Targeted Intelligence Networks Common features • Voluntary cooperation in small groups towards a shared goal • Supported by new technologies • Institutional framework has to be created within that these new forms can emerge • Needed are financial, infrastructural, material and educational resources to empower people to take over their new tasks voluntarily. • This implies also certain ways of compensation and remuneration for their efforts and their contribution to society.

15. Targeted Intelligence Networks Empirical examples (“Keimformen”) • "Peer Group Care“ • complementary structure for the elderly, poor, disabled and other outsiders; • "Study Circles" • to complement traditional schools; • "Workers' Health Assurance Groups" • to improve the occupational ill-health status, and • "Intrapreneurial Groups" • against alienation on the workplace are examples to illustrate how

16. Side conditions for implementation The examples show that it is not impossible to implement TINs • It will depend • on the level of income, • on the amount of leisure time left over after the necessities of work. • on the psychological status of the majority of people. • on increased experience of crisis symptoms, • on increased feelings of anxiety and stress, • On the availability of political support • TINs make possible the more direct experience of the dark side of life, of the destructive tendencies of societal change.

17. Challenges of Implementation • In the first stages the welfare functions should be complemented by TINs, not replaced • Society’s responsibility should not be taken away, but increased (in particular financial resources should be available, private–public partnerships) • Identification of NGOs needed • Move the pendulum of history away from nationalisation one step further towards socialisation (“Vergesellschaftung statt Verstaatlichung”) • Experiencing directly the darker side of life can lead to more precise political engagement • Important issue: how to monitor and control the TINs to create a process of self-improvement

18. Thank you for your attention! If you would like to contact me, please use: fleissner@arrakis.es Homepage: http://www.arrakis.es/~fleissner