How Welfare Professions Contribute to the Making of Welfare Governance: Professional Agency and Institutional Work in Elder Care

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

Welfare governance in elder care has undergone significant changes, but we know less about the processes and actors of making welfare governance. This is problematic, as the concern for process is a key strength of the welfare governance perspective. Based on a case study of elder care in Denmark, and drawing on studies of professions, the aim is to analyse how welfare professions contribute to the making of welfare governance. Our analysis shows that welfare professions bring unique resources into play. They have strong professional agency, drawing on both broader institutional roles and more specific professional projects. The institutional work itself is highly complex and the welfare professions combine not only formal and informal coordination, but also do so in ways that are closely tailored to specific contexts. The analysis makes important empirical and theoretical contributions to the study of welfare governance in elder care.

Original languageEnglish
JournalJournal of Social Policy
Volume51
Issue number4
Pages (from-to)900-919
Number of pages20
ISSN0047-2794
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), 2021.

    Research areas

  • elder care, institutional work, professional agency, welfare governance, Welfare professions

ID: 388636134