We are witnessing changes in the conditions and functioning of the market and the risks associated with it, which bring a certain amount of uncertainty in our lives. When we find ourselves in distress which the market cannot eliminate (or is the root cause of it), we seek help from social institutions. In recent decades, especially under the influence of globalization, technological innovation and the rise of neoliberalism, countries and their social systems have found themselves under immense pressure to focus on market-based policies, which is distancing them from more humane and »people-friendly« policies. Thus, not only institutions but also attitudes towards users of social services have changed. With the redefinition of responsibilities in individualization, basic social rights and access to those has also begun to change. Therefore, I have decided, to do a brief overview of the development of neoliberalism and social policies, where I focus primarily on the impact of globalization, technology and the issue of democracy. I will focus mainly on the analysis of state institutions, their adaptation to the neoliberal system, how the changes express in their social policies and how this affects changes in the scope of social rights and access to social services. The neoliberal transformation within the social work centers has manifested itself in the areas of rationalization, bureaucratization and lack of autonomy, which led to difficult access and poorer quality of services. The shift to individualization, conditionality, coercion and criminalization of aid recipients has become one of the main guidelines for changes in social legislation in Slovenia.
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