‘What about the poor people's rights?’ The dismantling of social citizenship through access to justice and welfare reform policy

2021 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 362-385
Author(s):  
JENNIFER SIGAFOOS ◽  
JAMES ORGAN
Keyword(s):  
Welfare Reform ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
Social Citizenship ◽  
Reform Policy ◽  
The Poor

The Global Rise of Social Cash Transfers

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lutz Leisering
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Social Security ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Cash Transfers ◽  
Social Citizenship ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Sociological Approach ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Social Cash Transfers ◽  
The Right

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) proclaimed the equality of all human beings in dignity and rights. The right to social security, however, has been taken more seriously only since the 2000s, through calls for ‘Social security for all’ and ‘Leaving no one behind’. The book investigates a major response, social cash transfers to the poor. The idea of simply giving money to the poor had been rejected by all major development organizations until the 1990s, but since the early 2000s, social cash transfers have mushroomed in the global South and on agendas of international organizations. How come? What programmes have emerged in which countries? How inclusive are the programmes? What models have international organizations devised? Based on unique quantitative and qualitative data, the book takes stock of all identifiable cash transfers in all Southern countries and of the views of all major international organizations. The author argues that cash transfers reflect broader changes: new understandings of development, of human rights, of global risks, of the social responsibility of governments, and of universalism. Social cash transfers have turned the poor from objects of charity into rights-holders and agents of their own lives and of development. A repertoire of cash transfers has evolved that has enhanced social citizenship, but is limited by weak political commitments. The book also contributes to a general theory of social policy in development contexts, through a constructivist sociological approach that complements the dominant approaches from welfare economics and political economy and includes a theory of social assistance.

Introduction: Beyond Benefits Street – exploring experiences and narratives of welfare reform

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth Patrick
Keyword(s):  
Welfare Reform ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Social Citizenship ◽  
Theoretical Context ◽  
Working Through ◽  
Longitudinal Approach ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter outlines the rationale behind conducting repeat interviews with out-of-work benefit claimants in an effort to better understand lived experiences of welfare reform. It introduces readers to the political and theoretical context, and highlights the value in employing social citizenship as a theoretical lens in order to tease out citizenship from above and below. The recent context of welfare reform in the UK is also introduced, highlighting the extent to which successive rounds of welfare reform have cumulatively reworked the relationship between the citizen and the state. The research on which this book is based is detailed, and the value in working through and across time by taking a qualitative longitudinal approach highlighted.

Comparing Drug Use between Welfare-Receiving Arrestees and Non-Welfare-Receiving Arrestees

2002 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
George S. Yacoubian ◽  
Ronald J. Peters ◽  
Blake J. Urbach ◽  
Regina J. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Drug Use ◽  
Welfare Reform ◽  
Personal Responsibility ◽  
Objective Measure ◽  
Illegal Drug ◽  
Welfare Recipients ◽  
Poverty Level ◽  
Reform Policy ◽  
Illegal Drug Use ◽  
Urine Specimens

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) symbolized a comprehensive change to the nation's welfare system. Despite several provisions within PRWORA that focus on the use of illegal drugs, few studies have attempted to identify the prevalence of illegal drug use among welfare recipients. Moreover, no scholarly works have compared rates of drug use in welfare-receiving populations to those of non-welfare-receiving populations with an objective measure of drug use. In the current study, urine specimens were collected from 1,572 arrestees interviewed through Houston's Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) Program in 1999. Drug positive rates are compared between welfare-receiving arrestees ( n = 116), non-welfare receiving arrestees living below the poverty level ( n = 539), and non-welfare receiving arrestees living above the poverty level ( n = 917). Welfare-receiving arrestees were more likely to be female, older, less educated, and to test positive for opiates and benzodiazepines than the other subgroups. Implications for welfare reform policy are discussed in light of the current findings.

Making Sense of a Quiet Revolution

2018 ◽  
pp. 3-18
Author(s):  
Lutz Leisering
Keyword(s):  
Global South ◽  
Cash Transfers ◽  
Cash Transfer ◽  
Social Citizenship ◽  
Georg Simmel ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Social Cash Transfers ◽  
Set Up

This chapter introduces the topic of the book, social cash transfers for the poor in the global South, and depicts the research questions, theories, methods, indicators, and data of the analysis. The research questions relate to what kind of social cash transfer programmes have been set up in the global South, how international organizations came to accept the concept and constructed models of cash transfers, what factors made for the global spread of cash transfers, and if cash transfers have brought social citizenship to the poor. Drawing on Georg Simmel, T. H. Marshall, John W. Meyer, and Franz-Xaver Kaufmann, the theoretical approach of the book combines sociological theories of social policy, constructivist institutionalism, and world society theory, to complement the dominant approaches from welfare economics and political economy. Research includes qualitative and quantitative data and methods, with a unique large N data set. A figure depicts the research plan of the book.

scholarly journals Welfare conditionality and social marginality: The folly of the tutelary state?

2018 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 771-791 ◽  
Author(s):  
Del Roy Fletcher ◽  
John Flint
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Welfare Reform ◽  
Contemporary Evolution ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Support Mechanisms ◽  
Therapeutic State ◽  
Social Marginality ◽  
To Receive ◽  
Depth Interviews

In a contemporary evolution of the tutelary state, welfare reform in the United Kingdom has been characterised by moves towards greater conditionality and sanctioning. This is influenced by the attributing responsibility for poverty and unemployment to the behaviour of marginalised individuals. Mead (1992) has argued that the poor are dependants who ought to receive support on condition of certain restrictions imposed by a protective state that will incentivise engagement with support mechanisms. This article examines how the contemporary tutelary and therapeutic state has responded to new forms of social marginality. Drawing on a series of in-depth interviews conducted with welfare claimants with an offending background in England and Scotland, the article examines their encounters with the welfare system and argues that alienation, rather than engagement with support, increasingly characterises their experiences.

Legal aid in South Africa: making justice reality

2005 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-72
Author(s):  
Hennie van As
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
Bill Of Rights ◽  
Legal Aid ◽  
Legal Representation ◽  
Existing Structures ◽  
The Poor ◽  
New Concepts ◽  
The Right ◽  
Criminal Matters

Democracy and the adoption of a Bill of Rights for South Africa not only brought about political change, but it also created expectations of a better life for all. The Constitution guarantees equality before the law, access to a fair hearing and the right to legal representation in criminal matters, and the Legal Aid Board is one of the institutions tasked with giving effect to these pledges. In order to achieve its objectives and to fulfil its obligations, government embarked upon a process of transformation of existing structures and institutions and the creation of new ones. Although legal aid, and statutory provision therefore, are not new concepts in South Africa, constitutionalization resulted in the restructuring of the Legal Aid Board and changes in the method of delivery of its services. The focus is on rendering legal representation in criminal matters to the neglect of civil and non-legal problems that the poor often face, resulting in the impression that government is merely paying lip service to the promise of access to justice. This lends credence to the perception that the legal system exists in order to protect the interests of criminals. Being a developing country, it is comprehensible that priorities have to be set, but it is also true that optimum use should be made of existing structures and resources in order to deal with the needs for legal aid services as expressed by the recipients of those services. Involving students and local government are two methods that can be employed to address the multi-farious problems experienced by the less fortunate members of society.

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