Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of tables and figures
- Acknowledgements
- one Introduction
- two Unequal citizenship? The new social divisions of public welfare
- three Lived experiences of poverty and prosperity in austerity Britain
- four The sociological imagination of rich and poor citizens
- five Heterodox citizens? Conceptions of social rights and responsibilities
- six Identity, difference and citizenship: a fraying tapestry?
- seven Deliberating the structural determinants of poverty and inequality
- eight Conclusion
- Appendix: Details of the qualitative fieldwork
- References
- Index
two - Unequal citizenship? The new social divisions of public welfare
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 08 April 2022
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of tables and figures
- Acknowledgements
- one Introduction
- two Unequal citizenship? The new social divisions of public welfare
- three Lived experiences of poverty and prosperity in austerity Britain
- four The sociological imagination of rich and poor citizens
- five Heterodox citizens? Conceptions of social rights and responsibilities
- six Identity, difference and citizenship: a fraying tapestry?
- seven Deliberating the structural determinants of poverty and inequality
- eight Conclusion
- Appendix: Details of the qualitative fieldwork
- References
- Index
Summary
‘It wasn't the wealthy who made the biggest sacrifices after the financial crash, but ordinary, working-class families.’ (Theresa May, 2016b)
Introduction
This chapter explores how the dominant praxis of social citizenship has changed over time. Status, rights and identity are a gestalt of the social contract (Joppke, 2007). In this spirit, the key features of citizenship cannot be considered in isolation. By examining the changing function and relationship between rights and responsibilities, it is possible to understand how citizenship status and identity are both nurtured and negated by the welfare state. The chapter starts by situating welfare austerity within its historical context in order to moderate some of the claims made about its impact and repercussions for social citizenship.
While all domains of welfare activity have a significant bearing on social rights, the ability to fully exercise other social, civil and political rights is dependent on a minimum level of income (Torry, 2013). Without this, other rights are rendered ‘empty moral possessions’ (Melden, 1979: 248). Social security, including pensions, makes up the largest share of public social spending in the UK and its share of total expenditure has grown substantially over time (Hood and Oakley, 2014). Social security, then, is the core welfare domain, but it is also the most contested. As such, this chapter focuses principally on how social citizenship has been articulated through the social security system.
Over time, social security entitlements have shifted according to the political paradigm in vogue, the target beneficiary group in question, and the demographic and economic pressures bearing down on public finances. The changing enactment and experience of social security can be broadly characterised as a ratcheted transition from a social democratic period of welfarism (1945–79) to a post-Keynesian era of neoliberal citizenship (1979 to the present day). The first section of this chapter outlines the historical and contemporary context from which the prevailing citizenship configuration has emerged in the UK, to establish the extent of continuity and change engendered through welfare austerity. This section illustrates how welfare austerity is producing an increasingly bifurcated system of social citizenship that has come to authenticate the status and reward the practices of some, to the exclusion and denigration of others.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Welfare, Inequality and Social CitizenshipDeprivation and Affluence in Austerity Britain, pp. 15 - 42Publisher: Bristol University PressPrint publication year: 2018