334
Views
0
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Articles

Frontline discretion from a Bourdieu-inspired field perspective: an ethnographic case study of a Norwegian activation measure for sick-listed employees

Skjønnsutøvelse i førstelinjen fra et Bourdieu-inspirert feltperspektiv: En etnografisk casestudie av et norsk aktiveringstiltak for sykmeldte arbeidstakere

ORCID Icon &

References

  • Aarseth, G., Natvig, B., Engebretsen, E., & Lie, A. K. (2017). ‘Working is out of the question’: A qualitative text analysis of medical certificates of disability. BMC Family Practice, 18(1), 55–55. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12875-017-0627-z
  • Aksnes, S. Y. (2019). Engaging employers in vocational rehabilitation: Understanding the new significance of knowledge brokers. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, 50(1), 73–84. https://doi.org/10.3233/JVR-180989
  • Andreassen, T. A. (2019). Measures of accountability and delegated discretion in activation work: Lessons from the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Service. European Journal of Social Work, 22(4), 664–675. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691457.2018.1423548
  • Andreassen, T. A., & Natland, S. (2020). The meaning of professionalism in activation work: Frontline managers’ perspectives. European Journal of Social Work, 25(4), 630–642. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691457.2020.1783212
  • Andreassen, T. A., & Solvang, P. K. (2021). Returning to work or working on one’s rehabilitation: Social identities invoked by impaired workers and professionals in health care and employment services. Sociology of Health & Illness, 43(3), 575–590. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9566.13241
  • Bonoli, G. (2010). The political economy of active labor-market policy. Politics & Society, 38(4), 435–457. https://doi.org/10.1177/0032329210381235
  • Bourdieu, P. (1977). Outline of a theory of practice (Vol. 16). Cambridge University Press.
  • Bourdieu, P. (1990). The logic of practice. Polity Press.
  • Bourdieu, P. (2005). The social structures of the economy. Polity Press.
  • Bourdieu, P., & Passeron, J.-C. (1990). Reproduction in education, society and culture ([New ed.] preface … / Pierre Bourdieu, Ed.). Sage.
  • Bourdieu, P., & Wacquant, L. J. D. (1992). An invitation to reflexive sociology. Polity Press.
  • Bråthen, M. (2020). Nav-veilederes dilemmaer i oppfølgingen av personer med psykiske helseproblemer. [NAV caseworkers’ dilemmas in the follow-up work of people with mental health problems]. Søkelys på arbeidslivet, 37(1–2), 52–66. https://doi.org/10.18261/issn.1504-7989-2020-01-02-04
  • Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
  • Dall, T., & Caswell, D. (2017). Expanding or postponing? Patterns of negotiation in multi-party interactions in social work. Discourse & Communication, 11(5), 483–497. https://doi.org/10.1177/1750481317714119
  • Emirbayer, M., & Johnson, V. (2008). Bourdieu and organizational analysis. Theory and Society, 37(1), 1–44. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11186-007-9052-y. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40211023
  • Esping-Andersen, G. (1990). The three worlds of welfare capitalism. Polity Press.
  • Fossestøl, K., & Andreassen, T. A. (2014). Utfordrende inkluderingspolitikk – Samstyring for omforming av institusjonell logikk i arbeidslivet, helsetjenesten og NAV [Changing institutional logics: Governance in Norwegian policy for labour market inclusion]. Tidsskrift for samfunnsforskning, 55(2), 174–202. https://doi.org/10.18261/ISSN1504-291X-2014-02-02
  • Gjersøe, H. M. (2016). Regulating inflow or outflow: A comparison of the work capability assessments in the UK and Norway. Journal of Social Policy, 45(1), 141–158. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047279415000471
  • Gjersøe, H. M., Leseth, A., & Vilhena, S. (2020). Frontline implementation of welfare conditionality in Norway: A maternalistic practice. Social Policy & Administration, 54(3), 491–504. https://doi.org/10.1111/spol.12567
  • Grenfell, M. (2007). Pierre Bourdieu: Education and training (Vol. 2). Continuum.
  • Hallett, T., & Gougherty, M. (2018). Bourdieu and organizations. In T. Medvetz & J. J. Sallaz (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of Pierre Bourdieu (pp. 273–298). Oxford University Press.
  • Hansen, M. P., Triantafillou, P., Bellò, B., Boon, J., Doninck, D. V., Downe, J., Hopkins, C., Klijn, E. H., Sarapuu, K., Stevens, V., & Verhoest, K. (2022). Accounting for what and to whom? Accountability tensions in collaborations addressing long-term unemployment. Social Policy & Administration, 56(7), 1156–1171. https://doi.org/10.1111/spol.12846
  • Håvold, O. K. S., Harsløf, I., & Andreassen, T. A. (2018). Externalizing an ‘asset model’ of activation: Creative institutional work by frontline workers in the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Service. Social Policy & Administration, 52(1), 178–196. https://doi.org/10.1111/spol.12305
  • Hupe, P., & Hill, M. (2007). Street-level bureaucracy and public accountability. Public Administration, 85(2), 279–299. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9299.2007.00650.x
  • Immervoll, H., & Scarpetta, S. (2012). Activation and employment support policies in OECD countries. An overview of current approaches. IZA Journal of Labor Policy, 1(1), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1186/2193-9004-1-9
  • Jessen, J. T., & Tufte, P. A. (2014). Discretionary decision-making in a changing context of activation policies and welfare reforms. Journal of Social Policy, 43(2), 269–288. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047279413000998
  • Juritzen, T. I., Engebretsen, E., & Solvang, P. K. (2019). The enactment of multiple return-to-work bodies in labour and welfare administration: A qualitative study of compulsory stakeholder meetings. Nordic Social Work Research, 11(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/2156857X.2019.1604407
  • Lupu, I., & Empson, L. (2015). Illusio and overwork: Playing the game in the accounting field. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability, 28(8), 1310–1340. https://doi.org/10.1108/AAAJ-02-2015-1984
  • Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. (1997). Lov om folketrygd [National Insurance Act]. Oslo: The Norwegian Government Retrieved from https://lovdata.no/dokument/NL/lov/1997-02-28-19.
  • Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. (2019). Arbeid og inntektssikring [Work and income security]. The Norwegian Government.
  • Ministry of Labour and Social Inclusion. (2006–2007). Arbeid, velferd og inkludering [Work, welfare and inclusion]. The Norwegian Government.
  • Molander, A., Grimen, H., & Eriksen, E. O. (2012). Professional discretion and accountability in the welfare state. Journal of Applied Philosophy, 29(3), 214–230. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5930.2012.00564.x
  • Nairz-Wirth, E., & Feldmann, K. (2019). Teacher professionalism in a double field structure. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 40(6), 795–808. https://doi.org/10.1080/01425692.2019.1597681
  • National Directorate of Health. Guidelines for dialogue meetings with employers. Retrieved January 14, 2019, from https://www.helsedirektoratet.no/veiledere/sykmelderveileder/sykmelders-rolle-i-sykmeldingsperioden-oppfolgingsplan-aktivitetskravet-og-dialogmoter/dialogmoter-med-arbeidsgiver.
  • Noordegraaf, M., & Schinkel, W. (2011). Professionalism as symbolic capital: Materials for a Bourdieusian theory of professionalism. Comparative Sociology, 10(1), 67–96. https://doi.org/10.1163/156913310X514083
  • OECD. (2010). Sickness, disability and work: Breaking the barriers. https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/content/publication/9789264088856-en.
  • Olsen, G. (2021). Ambivalence in activation encounters. European Journal of Social Work, 25(4), 564–576. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691457.2021.1995705
  • Oslo Economics. (2021). Bruk av dialogmøte 2 i sykefraværsoppfølgingen. En kvalitativ studie av hvordan NAV-veiledere vurderer behov for dialogmøte 2, gjennomført på oppdrag for Arbeids- og velferdsdirektoratet [Use of dialogue meeting no. 2 in the sickness absence follow-up regime. A qualitative study of how NAV caseworkers assess the need for dialogue meeting no. 2, carried out on behalf of the Norwegian Directorate of Labour and Welfare]. Oslo.
  • Robinson, S., Ernst, J., Larsen, K., & Thomassen, O. J. (2021). Pierre Bourdieu in studies of organization and management. Societal change and transforming fields. Routledge.
  • Sadeghi, T. (2020). The occupational context of activation work: The relative role of educational and workplace qualification and socialisation (PhD, Publication Number 3: 2020) OsloMet - Oslo Metropolitan University. Oslo.
  • Ståhl, C., Svensson, T., Petersson, G., & Ekberg, K. (2009). The work ability divide: Holistic and reductionistic approaches in Swedish interdisciplinary rehabilitation teams. Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, 19(3), 264–273. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10926-009-9183-2
  • Stray, K. N., Thomassen, O. J., & Vike, H. (2022). Assessing sick-listed clients’ work ability: A moral mission? Critical Social Policy. https://doi.org/10.1177/02610183221113171
  • Tatli, A., Özbilgin, M., & Karatas-Özkan, M. (2015). Introduction: Management and organization studies meet Pierre Bourdieu. In A. Tatli, M. Özbilgin, & M. Karatas-Özkan (Eds.), Pierre Bourdieu, organization, and management (pp. 1–16). Routledge.
  • Thomassen, O. J., & Ødegaard, A. (2021). Recalling or reactivating the past? A habitus-based conceptualization of temporality in organizations. In S. Robinson, J. Ernst, K. Larsen, & O. J. Thomassen (Eds.), Pierre Bourdieu in studies of organization and management: Societal change and transforming fields, 41–57. Taylor and Francis.
  • Townley, B. (2014). Bourdieu and organizational theory: A ghostly apparition. In P. S. Adler, P. Du Gay, G. Morgan, & M. Reed (Eds.), Oxford handbook of sociology, social theory and organization studies (Oxford handbooks in business and management), 39–63. Oxford University Press USA – OSO.
  • Tummers, L., & Bekkers, V. (2014). Policy implementation, street-level bureaucracy, and the importance of discretion. Public Management Review, 16(4), 527–547. https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2013.841978
  • van Berkel, R. (2020). Making welfare conditional: A street-level perspective. Social Policy & Administration, 54(2), 191–204. https://doi.org/10.1111/spol.12564
  • van Berkel, R., & van Der Aa, P. (2012). Activation work: Policy programme administration or professional service provision? Journal of Social Policy, 41(3), 493–510. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047279412000062
  • van Berkel, R., van der Aa, P., & van Gestel, N. (2010). Professionals without a profession? Redesigning case management in Dutch local welfare agencies. European Journal of Social Work, 13(4), 447–463. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691451003603455
  • Wadel, C. C. (2015). Participatory work-along as an apprentice – a qualitative research tool in studying organizations and work practices. Nordic Journal of Working Life Studies, 5(3a), 85–103. https://doi.org/10.19154/njwls.v5i3a.4835
  • Wallander, L., & Molander, A. (2014). Disentangling professional discretion: A conceptual and methodological approach. Professions and Professionalism, 4(3), 1. https://doi.org/10.7577/pp.808
  • Watts, B., & Fitzpatrick, S. (2018). Welfare conditionality (1st ed.). Routledge.

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.