Economia del dare. Istituzioni, pratiche sociali di assistenza e cura in Italia e Bulgaria a confronto nel lungo periodo.

Responsabili di progetto

Paola Avallone, Alexandre Kostov

Accordo

BULGARIA - BAS - Bulgarian Academy of Sciences

Bando

CNR/BAS triennio 2019-2021 2019-2021

Dipartimento

Scienze umane e sociali, patrimonio culturale

Area tematica

Scienze umane e sociali, patrimonio culturale

Stato del progetto

Nuovo

Proposta di ricerca

The main goal of the project is to investigate the roots of the culture of health, assistance and hospitality in the long term starting from the study of the origins, contexts and transformation processes of institutions and social practices for the care of the body and the spirit with particular attention to Southern Italy, which, since the Middle Ages, presents itself as a unique model in comparison with the Bulgarian region.
Through the analysis of the social fabric and the institutions that generated these practices, together with the comparative study of a network model developed strategically not only in continental Europe, island and Mediterranean, but also in geographical areas far from the Mediterranean, such as Bulgaria, the project will help to unveil the meanings and interpretations of the concept of 'community welfare' as a resource for Europe.
From this general approach, and from a reading of the sources that lead to a critical dialogue between past and present, this project aims to reveal the legacy of structures of social action that identify us. A heritage that is also revealed - in the current crisis and in the context of a clear discrepancy between the social fabric and institutions - as an element of great value in the reconstruction of networks of collective solidarity, social cohesion, integration and the common good. In particular, it is linked to the concept of social innovation: the definition developed by the Youth Foundation and promoted by the European Commission in the 2020 strategic framework, identifies social innovation as a strategic element for economic growth, social development and the empowerment of citizens.
Two criteria are important to identify social innovation: the social purpose and the prevailing action of non-profit organizations to improve the capacity for action of disadvantaged individuals and groups. In this framework, the social security system, as well as access to medical care, are a fundamental inclusion tool, as they offer "effective protection" against risks such as unemployment, accidents at work, illness and "disability" ".
Each EU member state, by virtue of its history and the different national contexts, has developed its own social security system. Therefore, the second part of this project, focused on the theme "Access of Bulgarian immigrants to social security and health in Italy: policies and practices" in order to identify the "place" of the foreign population of Bulgarian origin in the framework the implementation of these measures, with a view to developing, on the basis of the studies carried out in the first part, possible policy orientations oriented towards "social innovation".

Obiettivi della ricerca

The project will deal with a series of practical problems that can be summarized in 3 specific objectives, taking into account the comparison between the different geopolitical realities.
1) Census documents of tangible and intangible goods, institutions and practices of care and hospitality in the long term, starting from the Middle Ages both for the Italian part (Southern Peninsular) and for the Bulgarian side.
It is a necessary condition to be able to reflect on their meaning in the past and their projection in the present and to analyze, on the basis of a mapping of hospital care, the social, political, economic and cultural 'landscape', consisting of material and immaterial elements, which, in their diversity, are defined with common features in rural and urban areas and in the different regions of Europe, and in different geographical areas, such as in Bulgaria.
2) Stimulate specific research, at all levels and academic degrees, on the institutions and practices of care, on the relations between them and the issues of urban and rural poverty, in the medieval and modern age of society, the economy, the anthropology; studies and research that can be part of the European scientific and comparative debate.
3) Promote publications in this field, the transmission of scientific results through monographs and individual and collective articles in specialized journals (Open Access).

Ultimo aggiornamento: 20/06/2025