Book review: Recommendation on Social Protection Floors – Basic Principles for Innovative Solutions
| Author | Lorena Ossio Bustillos |
| Published date | 01 September 2019 |
| DOI | 10.1177/1388262719870676 |
| Date | 01 September 2019 |
| Subject Matter | Book reviews |
type of comparative work over to future research carried by a next generation of academics who
will then benefit very much from Adler’s perfect single country study.
Author biography
Gijsbert Vonk is Professor of Social Security Law at the University of Groningen in the Nether-
lands. His research interests cover social securi ty, poverty, migration, socio-economic human
rights and European law.
Tineke Dijkhoffand Letlhokwa George Mpedi (eds.), Recommendation on SocialProtection Floors – Basic
Principlesfor Innovative Solutions, 2018, Kluwer Law Int ernational BV, 308 pp. , ISBN 978-90-411-8634 -8.
Reviewed by: Lorena Ossio Bustillos, German University of Administrative Sciences Speyer, Germany.
DOI: 10.1177/1388262719870676
In 2019, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) celebrates its 100th anniversary. The ILO
was established as a unique tripartite international organisation with representatives of employers,
workers and governments. In this particular context, the book under review becomes extremely
relevant, as its main objective is to analyse the International Labour Organisation’s Social Pro-
tection Floors Recommendation, 2012 (No. 202), focusing on it s basic principles. Prestigious
experts in the field of social protection law were invited to analyse the national innovative solu-
tions put forward in the Protection Floors Recommendation, and in doing so, they indirectly dealt
with the global challenges for the ILO in the 21st century. One of the most notable aspects of the
Protection Floors Recommendation, 2012 (No. 202) is the addressee, namely the poor, the most
vulnerable and socially excluded members of society.
The book is divided into three parts. Part I contains four chapters. In the introductory chapter,
the editors describe the main objective of the book, which is to provide insight into and under-
standing of the fundamental principles of Recommendation No. 202, whose implementation and
application are prerequisites for the creation of a social protection floor (p. 7). The second chapter,
written by Tineke Dijkhoff, explains in detail the set of principles selected on the academic
criterion of better systematisation with a practical orientation, based on Recommendation No. 202
but not consideringall the principles mentioned there. The next two chapterscan be read as indepen-
dent units: The third chapter, on ‘Implementing the Principles of Social Protection Floors Recom-
mendation,2012 (No. 202)’, was writtencollectively.It embodies an impressivelydeep understanding
of the institutional function of the ILO an d on the superv isory syste m. It also refe rs to a rich
literature on this field from a global perspective. Thefourthchapter,writtenbyStephenDevereux,
poses the important question of the limits of Recommendation No. 202regarding the guarantees of
income security through cash or in-kind transfers and the realisation of the right to food.
Part II contains the so-called case studies of emerging economies and developing countries.
Most of the contributors, who are mainly from Latin America (Argentina, Chile and Mexico) and
from South Africa, were involved in research projects developed at the former Max Planck
Book review 291
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