The Letter of the Law. Insights from Italy’s Anti-Poverty Measures About Managing in Social Services

This study aims to reconstruct the organizational processes in-volved in managing the uncertainty surrounding the implementa-tion of a new anti-poverty measure in Italy. In 2024, a reform of the minimum income scheme significantly redefined the role of social services in assessing and supporting the social inclusion of benefi-ciaries. Using an Activity Theory framework, this paper analyses a case study from a suburban area in Milan, focusing on the turbu-lence encountered during the transition, the development of the care script, and the disturbances that occurred. The analysis draws on ethnographic fieldwork, including participant observation and semi-structured interviews with public and private social workers engaged in implementing the reform. This study underscores the critical role of organizational cultures in fostering the effective ap-plication of horizontal subsidiarity principles in contexts character-ized by structural uncertainty.