Social policy analysis routinely suggests that welfare reform is damaging the social rights of vulnerable groups. But what does this actually mean? Recognising (and overcoming) the conceptual vagueness of social citizenship might help provide some clarity, says Daniel Edmiston from the University of Leeds in a new guest blog.
He suggests that greater attention to the constitutive elements of citizenship can help clarify the significance of welfare conditionality and its bearing on social rights. To To do that, he says, we need to look at three key considerations of relevance: what effect is welfare conditionality having on the ‘effectiveness’, ‘inalienability’ and ‘universality’ of social rights?
Daniel Edmiston from the University of Leeds suggests that greater attention to the constitutive elements of citizenship can help clarify the significance of welfare conditionality and its bearing on social rights.
Social policy analysis routinely suggests that welfare reform is damaging the social rights of vulnerable groups. But what does this actually mean? Recognising (and overcoming) the conceptual vagueness of social citizenship might help provide some clarity. Read More
A learned journal paper on Universal Credit by our team members has proved so popular that the publishers are offering it free for a month. ‘Universal Credit, ubiquitous conditionality and its implications for social citizenship’, written by Prof Peter Dwyer and Dr Sharon Wright, considers the punitive system of tiered sanctions and fines within Universal Credit. They argue UC represents a major expansion and intensification of personalised behavioural conditionality, and indicates the ubiquity of conditionality at the heart of twenty-first century UK social citizenship.
The paper was one of the most downloaded from the Journal of Poverty & Social Justice in 2015. In celebration, the journal is making it free to download this month. Get your copy here.
Prof Dwyer is based at the University of York and Dr Wright at the University of Glasgow.
