" In European employment and social policy the dominant perception is that a paid job equals social inclusion and unemployment means social exclusion. In accordance with this way of thinking, unemployment policy has been restructured from paying the unemployed 'passive' social benefits to a policy that emphasises activating the unemployed in some sort of activation scheme. Participation in such a scheme is either considered as a substitute for a 'normal' job, giving the activated person the same degree of social inclusion as paid employment in a 'normal' job, or is supposed to provide the unemployed with better opportunities for finding a 'normal' job. The inclusionary potential of this workfare policy is discussed in this article that draws on some of the main findings from a European project on 'Inclusion through participation'."

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