Download or read book Local Policies and the European Social Fund written by Zimmermann, Katharina and published by Policy Press. This book was released on 2019-10-02 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book reviews how local social and employment policy fields react to the European Social Fund (ESF) to determine the role of the ESF in local activation policies. Drawing on both sociology and political science literature on welfare state reforms, the author examines what shapes local policy reactions to ESF and what effects these reactions have on change in local policy fields. Comparing data from 18 local case studies across 6 European countries, and deploying an innovative mixed-method approach, the book presents comparative evidence on everyday challenges in the context of the ESF and discusses how these findings are applicable to other funding schemes.