Le reti nel welfare locale: risorsa o nuovo vincolo?

The study explores the complex dynamics of network-based interventions within the Italian social policies, a paradigmatic case of Southern European welfare state. It sheds light on the emerging concept of “netocracyμ and highlights the critical implications of the spread of this model. Through a comparative analysis of two cases of network-based social interventions – the Family Districts (Trentino Alto-Adige) and the Integrated Actions for Territorial Cohesion (Veneto) – the research examines the evolving nature of local networks and their impact on social work practices. The findings highlight the impacts of network logic on social work and the challenges that welfare professionals face in adapting to this logics. The study thus reveals the potential that network-based approaches have for social innovation and empowerment. At thesame time, however, it underscores the risks associated with introducing network logic in fragmented and underfunded welfare contexts like Italy, showing how network-based interventions risk absorbing more resources than they generate in the absence of targeted increases in social spending. The study thus offers a critical-reflective perspective on a social intervention model that is increasingly spreading and tends to be rhetorically treated as positive.