The articles in this IDS Bulletin are drawn from a conference hosted by the Centre for Social Protection at IDS in April 2011. They elaborate the linkages between social protection and social justice, to identify opportunities for operationalising the ‘transformative’ aspects of social protection and to strengthen the case for integrating social protection into broader social policy. Social protection is not only about installing safety nets and alleviating poverty, it also has profound implications for social relations and for local, national and global governance.
The articles in this collection address the perception that insufficient attention has been paid to the politics of social protection, to addressing not just poverty and shocks but structural vulnerabilities and socioeconomic inequalities, and to social protection’s relationship with social justice outcomes. ‘Social protection plus’ is needed to upgrade projects and programmes from discretionary social assistance to claims-based entitlements.
This ‘social protection for social justice’ agenda demands an explicitly political approach, driven both from the top and by civil society activism from below. Social protection has been the development success story of the past decade. Not only are social protection programmes extending their coverage across the world, they are increasingly becoming claims-based and justiciable, empowering individuals and communities, and building social contracts between states and citizens. It is important going forward to protect the gains made and ensure that they become permanent and irreversible entitlements. This is a vital next step towards ensuring that social protection becomes an effective instrument for achieving social justice for all.
Introduction: Social Protection for Social Justice Stephen Devereux, J. Allister McGregor and Rachel Sabates-Wheeler
OVERVIEW 1
Democratic Governance for Social Justice: The Politics of Social Protection Deepta Chopra and Dolf te Lintelo
One Step Beyond: From Social Protection Recipients to Citizens Savina Tessitore
Social Protection in Zambia – Whose Politics? Esther Schüring and Julie Lawson-McDowall
Collaborative Governance: Analysing Social Audits in MGNREGA in India Nidhi Vij
OVERVIEW 2
Social Protection to Address the Drivers of Vulnerability: A Bridge too Far? Keetie Roelen
Reflections on Including Disability in Social Protection Programmes Marguerite Schneider, Wamundila Waliuya, Joseph Musanje and Leslie Swartz
Why is Social Protection Gender-blind? The Politics of Gender and Social Protection Nicola Jones and Rebecca Holmes
Dignity and Stigma among South African Female Cash Transfer Recipients Tessa Hochfeld and Sophie Plagerson
Richer but Resented: What do Cash Transfers do to Social Relations? Ian MacAuslan and Nils Riemenschneider
OVERVIEW 3
Social Protection and Climate Change Christophe Béné
Adaptive Social Protection in Rwanda:‘Climate-proofing’ the Vision 2020 Umurenge Programme Paul B. Siegel, Justine Gatsinzi and Andrew Kettlewell
Is there a Role for Cash Transfers in Climate Change Adaptation? Rachel Godfrey Wood
OVERVIEW 4
(Re)distribution and Growth: What is the Role of Social Protection? Rachel Sabates-Wheeler and Gabriele Koehler
Addressing Inequality: Framing Social Protection in National Development Strategies Kate Carroll
Transformative Social Protection: Reflections on South Asian Policy Experiences Gabriele Koehler
Political and Civil Society in India’s Welfare Trajectory Ellen Ehmke
Social Protection, the Millennium Development Goals and Human Rights Wouter van Ginneken
Editors
