Sustainable development and participation of social organizations in active employment policies. A critical analysis from the Senian and Foucauldian perspectives

Abstract

This article begins with Goal 8 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to question, first, the internal coherence implicit in the discourse surrounding this goal, which conditions decent work to the market and economic growth. To this end, it refers to indicators contained in Goal 8 related to the market, supporting the analysis with the help of other research and interpreting the discourse based on Foucault's concept of political rationality. In particular, it highlights that recent regulations on active policies in Spain include Goal 8 among their aims, which represents a significant challenge for the organizations involved in these policies to help vulnerable unemployed groups access decent jobs. This leads to the second question, the analysis of the external coherence between the normative discourse and the reality of these organizations. Faced with this challenge, organizations face limitations in responding to the needs of these groups, as evidenced by some of the researchers mentioned in the article. Finally, the importance of collective capabilities among organizations, defined using the capabilities approach, is emphasized, highlighting why they should have more freedom to take initiatives that truly contribute to establishing better working and/or living conditions for these groups, for the sake of truly sustainable social development.