A theory of informal and formal social citizenship and welfare

Abstract

Formal social citizenship is limited in how it enables us to think about informal social citizenship and informal welfare. This informal perspective is important in all contexts where access to social rights is negotiated through local and transnational spaces, and where the state is a relatively minor player. By drawing on work on moral economy (Scott, 1976) and informal welfare (Gough and Wood, 2006) the article aims to propose a new theoretical model to understand the nature and social practice of both informal citizenship and welfare. This model departs from a western-centric understanding of nation-state-based citizenship and national welfare states, adopting instead the perspective that informal social citizenship and welfare have existed independently of the nation state as long as there have been human communities. Formal citizenship together with formal welfare rights represent just one particular crystallization of such informal practice. Our proposed model highlights the interdependent (rather than evolutionary) relationship between formal welfare at national level and informal welfare practices at local and transnational levels.

Interpreting the state–citizen nexus in contemporary Nordic legal and social citizenship: the case of divergence in restriction on freedom of movement as a mitigation policy in the COVID-19 pandemic

“…While the Nordic countries still share a similar social democratic welfare state regime at large, the interpretation of the usage of restrictions on freedom of movement as a mitigation policy highlights diverging directions between the countries in terms of their understanding of aspects of citizenship, such as inclusion and exclusion. This is also in line with the arguments put forth by Nordensvärd and Ketola (2022) who have argued that citizenship is not just made up of formal laws but also is made and remade through social practices and interpretations of laws and culture that could exist in an informal understanding of what should and could be done in times of crisis. This article brings out a more nuanced understanding of social practices during a pandemic where governments have to make difficult decisions.…”

“…Nordensvärd and Ketola (2022) have explored the importance of not just legislative and policy, but also actual informal aspects of citizenship. According to them, social practices evolve, change, and sometimes reach a stable point where the social practices become codified, written down, or turned into law.…”

“…According to them, social practices evolve, change, and sometimes reach a stable point where the social practices become codified, written down, or turned into law. They argue that “formal citizenship together with formal welfare rights represent just one particular crystallization of such informal practice”, and that there is an interdependent (rather than evolutionary) relationship between formal welfare at the national level and informal welfare practices at local and transnational levels (Nordensvärd & Ketola, 2022, p. 1).…”

Conceptualising the Relationship Between Formal and Informal Social Protection

“…The discussion of the relevance of informal welfare is equally important for developing and developed countries because informality is where all welfare originates, and it continues to inform how we engageor don'twith formal welfare. Nordensvärd and Ketola (2022) argue that informal welfare is not merely an add-on or a helping hand for formal welfare. Instead, they are integral to each other and constitute a system of social rights and duties.…”

The River Runs Through It: Naturalising Social Policy and Welfare

“…This suggests a bigger research aim of broadening our understanding of what citizenship is-citizenship itself needs to be disconnected from a narrow Western understanding of liberal rights and duties that have been granted to citizens [97] and re-thought in relation to communities with rights and duties as something inherent to our species and its relationship with nature. We create social communities as a way to function, and we narrate these communities, rights, and duties in ways that help make sense of ourselves, nature, and the universe.…”