My research on irregular migrants was related to social rights, more than to other categories of human rights. I'm still very much interested in social rights and elements of Scandinavian style social policy (welfare state) - particularly, how these elements of social policy can be extended to people on/from the wrong side of the planet. When I came back to the Philippines this June, there was a new government which installed a conditional cash transfer scheme to the supposed poorest families. Called the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (PPPP), it was apparently the first such program for redistributing income in the Philippines. Earlier, neighboring Thailand has instituted a system of universal health care, touted as the most cost efficient in the world. When I have the time, I'll poke around what's been said about these state-sponsored welfare programs.
A closely related, theme that I'd like to dig into for next year is "social enterprise". I'm particularly interested in how social enterprises (businesses/NGOs) provide social goods like education, health, etc. in places neglected by states. Where are they doing that? How are they succeeding? And if they are succeeding, are they in effect giving capitalism a new, humane, face - in the same way that Scandinavian social democratic parties by wedding welfare and capitalism re-branded capitalism in a small part of the world? And how is this going to be evaluated in light of the global financial crisis and the larger challenge to so-called liberal democratic capitalism by the rise of Chinese capitalism? Are social enterprises to be welcomed or shunned?
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