The Many Faces of Vulnerability

Abstract

Social injustices, structural and personal crises as well as intensifying stress on some citizens seem increasing preoccupations in contemporary society and social policy. In this context, the concept of vulnerability has come to play a prominent role in academic, governmental and everyday accounts of the human condition. Policy makers and practitioners are now concerned with addressing vulnerability through an expansive range of interventions. As this special issue draws attention to, a vulnerability zeitgeist or ‘spirit of the time’ has been traced in contemporary welfare and disciplinary arrangements (Brown, 2014, 2015), which now informs a range of interventions and approaches to social problems, both in the UK and internationally. As prominent examples, ‘vulnerable’ people are legally entitled to ‘priority need’ in English social housing allocations (Carr and Hunter, 2008), vulnerable victims of crime are seen as requiring special responses in the UK criminal justice system (see Roulstoneet al., 2011; Walkgate, 2011), ‘vulnerable adults’ have designated ‘protections’ under British law (Dunnet al., 2008; Clough, 2014) and vulnerable migrants and refugees are increasingly prioritised within international immigration processes (Peroni and Timmer, 2013). There is a long tradition in the field of social policy of critiquing the implications of particular concepts as mechanisms of governance, from poverty (Townsend, 1979; Lister, 2004) and social exclusion (Levitas, 1998; Young 1999) to risk (Beck, 1992; Kemshall, 2002) and resilience (Ecclestone and Lewis, 2014; Wright, 2016). Yet while vulnerability seems to be one of the latest buzzwords gathering political and cultural momentum, critiques and empirical studies of how it is operationalised in different policy and practice contexts are less well elaborated.

Guest Editor's Introduction

“…What does it do? How is it described and what kinds of contribution do the various descriptions provide to help us understand this virtual Zeitgeist we live by (Brown, Ecclestone and Emmel 2017)? How is vulnerability used for the purposes of power?…”

Exposing the impact of intensive advice services on health: A realist evaluation

“…Crucially, it highlights the importance of the mediating role of CA services, understood here as the creation of a facilitative Third Space between two opposed groups, where clients may themselves lack agency in engaging directly with the state and the impact this has in reducing stress and improving well‐being. In doing so, this paper also responds to calls for greater research on the “empirical realities” of vulnerability (Brown, Ecclestone, Ecclestone, & Emmel, ) from the perspectives of both advice service providers and clients.…”

“…In doing so, this paper also responds to calls for greater research on the "empirical realities" of vulnerability (Brown, Ecclestone, Ecclestone, & Emmel, 2017) from the perspectives of both advice service providers and clients.…”

Economic Worries—Therapeutic Solutions?: Entrepreneurial and Therapeutic Governing of Transitions of Young People

“…A wide array of researchers has raised concern about the consequences of entrepreneurial and therapeutic discourses. They worry about education being replaced by market-oriented and therapeutic interventions, the individualization of societal problems and consideration of children, and the vulnerability and fragility of pupils, students and adults who are not capable of influencing their own lives (Burman, 2009;Harwood, 2006;Brown, Ecclestone & Emmel, 2017;Simmons & Thompson, 2011;Dahlstedt, Fejes & Schonning, 2011;Wright, 2011;Siivonen & Brunila, 2014).…”