The Contribution of Professional Associations in Romania to the Prevention of Poverty and Exclusion by Developing Social Businesses - Part I of II

• Author: Ioan Constantin Rada - Liliana Doina M?gdoiu - Ioana Carmen Rada
• Position: University of Oradea, Oradea, Romania - University of Oradea, Oradea, Romania - The National Bank of Romania, Bihor county Branch, Romania
• Pages: 9-26

Vol. 3 No. 2

July 2017

ISSN 2410-3918

Acces online at www.iipccl.org

9

Academic Journal of Business, Administration, Law and Social Sciences

IIPCCL Publishing, Graz-Austria

The Contribution of Professional Associations in Romania to the Prevention

of Poverty and Exclusion by Developing Social Businesses - Part I of II

Ioan Constantin Rada

University of Oradea, Oradea, Romania,

Liliana Doina Măgdoiu

University of Oradea, Oradea, Romania

Ioana Carmen Rada

The National Bank of Romania, Bihor county Branch, Romania

Abstract

Global poverty is neither created by the poor, nor the result of any incapacity associated to

them; instead, it is the outcome of the system built by all the people, the institutions they set

up and the concepts they have formulated. In what follows we don’t want to suggest that

Professional Associations would become philanthropic associations through the establishment

and development of specifi c social economy foundations that concentrate their activity on

poverty issues. Such associations have actually come to witness the problems mentioned above,

namely the di cult situation of former employees from di erent areas; an example in this

respect could be the massive and "the most successful privatization of all time" of oil companies,

in 2004, when, by various subtle (compensatory) means, the new capitalists have fi red more

than 40 thousand people, relegating them and their families to a life of poverty. Private oil

companies have outsourced more services, which subsequently became the property of the

capitalists managing them, at the expense of society, proving their clear interest in gaining

signifi cant profi t. Therefore, Professional Associations in this area might become, among other

things, active organizations within society, assuming a social role, for both their members

from the oil industry and for non-members, for society at large. Professional associations

promote the idea of a new form of capitalism and a new type of company (understood as a

business), based on the generosity of people and defi ned by experts as "social business". The

fundamental purpose: to eliminate the social, economic and environmental problems; reduce

the consequences of many other problems in society, such as hunger, homelessness, disease,

pollution, lack of education, which fi nally lead to national insecurity.

Keywords: Professional associations; poverty; social exclusion; vulnerable groups; social

business; social economy; social entrepreneurship, a new form of Capitalism.

Introduction

Combating global poverty and social exclusion (a concept that has been addressed

in recent years, especially in Europe), restoring the human dignity of those who lost

it, eradicating the concepts that lead to poverty is an essential duty of all economic

and political systems worldwide, and of all existing institutions. The perception

of Social Economy as a science connected to these economic and political system,

the application of scientifi c achievements in this fi eld, identifying and removing

Vol. 3 No. 2

July 2017

Academic Journal of Business, Administration, Law and Social Sciences

IIPCCL Publishing, Graz-Austria

ISSN 2410-3918

Acces online at www.iipccl.org

10

inequalities and inequities, pu ing into practice the principle of social policies

legitimacy are obvious demands in poor countries, with economic and political

systems that are either emerging or increasingly divided by subsistence.

We have approached the concept of "social exclusion" given its importance in terms of

the di erence between poverty as a way of measuring the need for social protection

(lack of income or insu cient consumption) and as total lack of opportunities. Lack

of income and insu cient consumption relate to merely the fi nancial aspect of

exclusion, but responsibility should also focus on eliminating the causes / restrictions

that exclude individuals from the possibility to get what they need (Preda, 2007).

The importance of the issue is given by the prospects of Romanian social policies

and implicitly those of professional associations, which are "organizations with legal

personality, with patrimonial purpose, consisting of individuals (members) belonging

to the same professions, or to related professions " (Rubinian Dictionary, accessed

at 5th of November 2016) that contribute both materially and by their knowledge

and work to the reduction of poverty and social exclusion among the unemployed,

displaced by postindustrial circumstances, and among the university graduates and

other vulnerable social groups; it is also necessary to re-evaluate the international

context, which plays a crucial role in the current context of Romania. The importance

lies in the fact that Professional Associations address the phenomenon of poverty

and social exclusion as "a problem that they regard and perceive as an opportunity,

and subsequently act upon it" (Ghenea, 2011), which turns the members of such

associations into social entrepreneurs.

We have completed the following reports on the issue referred to above, relevant in

terms of grounding the problem approached, which were published in professional

journals and presented at international conferences: „Managers and Economist

Engineers between the Sociology of the Elites and the Social Economy of Vulnerable

Groups” (Rada, Măgdoiu, et al., 2016); „The Antifragile of Decisions Adopted by

Managers and Economist Engineers Working in the Sector of Vulnerable Groups’

Social Economy” (Măgdoiu, Rada, 2016); „Forms of Communication and Strategies

adopted by Managers and Economist Engineers in the “BLACK SWAN" Situation

of Social Economy” (Rada, Măgdoiu, 2016); „Managers and Economist Engineers

between Social Economy Development and Obtaining Profi t” (Măgdoiu, Rada,

2014); „Managers and Economist Engineers between the Social Responsibility of Oil

Corporations and the Development of Social Economy” (Măgdoiu, Rada et al., 2014);

„The Initial and Ongoing Training of Economist Engineers as Human Resources of

the Labor Market” (Măgdoiu, Rada, 2013; „Managers and Economist Engineers in

the Development of the Social Economy” (Rada, Măgdoiu, 2013) etc. The present

study is di erent from the ones mentioned above as it approaches the perspective of

Professional Associations on the issue of poverty and social exclusion, regarding them

as opportunities on which to act as social entrepreneurs, in the international context

of Europeanization and globalization of social policies in Romania. Together with

previous research in the fi eld, the current study will contribute to the emergence of a

common a empt to eradicate poverty and social exclusion by creating opportunities

for jobs, increase of profi ts and consumption, based on the entrepreneurship model

though, for the time being, there are only “tendencies of studying the social economy