Incapacity, the Labour Market and Social Security: Coercion into ‘Positive’ Citizenship

Abstract

The article examines the likely evolution of the social security system in the United Kingdom in the aftermath of the Welfare Reform Act 2007. This recent legislation is paradigmatic of the new ideology and modes of thought which currently form the foundation of the modern welfare state, an institution increasingly viewed as a facilitator for individual self‐sufficiency, as opposed to its traditional role of providing temporary financial support in periods of need. In addition, it is likely that the Act has promoted at least some changes in the concept of citizenship, in particular the contemporary emphasis on responsibilities as much as on rights. The article considers whether the Act itself has succeeded in meeting the rhetorical claims made for it by legislators during the passage of the Welfare Reform Bill through Parliament. The question of whether the Act contains a punitive or even coercive element is also examined.

Cherry Picking Disability Rights? Swedish Disability Policy on Employment, Health and Participatio

“…However, research shows that labor market structures and economic incentives surpass individual incentives (Jacobsson & Seing 2013;Larkin 2011) and call for a need to rethink work from a critical perspective in parallel with the implementation of different labor market policies and schemes around Europe that focus on normative and static aspects of working life (Bertilsdotter Rosqvist & Keisu 2012;Sainsbury et al 2017). These aspects include fulltime paid employment instead of individual measures for meaningful or satisfactory work (cf.…”

Testing the liberal subject: (in)security, responsibility and ‘self-improvement’ in the UK citizenship test

“…This means demonstrating in this article how the test restricts and normalises, but does this as a feature of 'inclusion'. It works to include migrant-subjects by promoting notions of autonomy, self-sufficiency and empowerment; features which appear central to citizenship under advanced liberalism (Larkin 2011;Lemke 2012). It is important to see how the test works to restrict, but how this works by fetishising and making possible certain forms of conduct and behaviour.…”

“…The role of government is to provide the conditions through which the migrants are able to prove themselves 'worthy'/'deserving'. In this sense the test is perhaps an example of advanced liberal subjectification with its emphasis on self-responsibility and moral agency (what it asks of the subject) (Larkin 2011).…”

The New Puritanism: The Resurgence of Contractarian Citizenship in Common Law Welfare States

“…These measures have been strongly defended by Iain Duncan Smith primarily on the grounds of cost efficiency: see hitherto had been left outside the employment market due to state neglect, the result has been that provisions of the Act have been enforced in such a way as to place the vast majority of claimants in the`fit for work' category, with most failing the limited capability for work test. 118 Indeed, before the enactment of the legislation, the Department for Work and Pensions believed that most people are capable of at least some work, and estimated that around 90 per cent of new clients would fall into the work-related activity component of ESA. 119 These effects of the Welfare Reform Act 2007 will mean that many more citizens will be obliged to declare themselves capable and ready for work, despite the fact that they may not feel equal to the physical or mental tasks required of them.…”