Reference : Die Formierung des neuen Sozialbürgers. Eine exemplarische Untersuchung von Subjekti...
Scientific journals : Article
Social & behavioral sciences, psychology : Social work & social policy
Educational Sciences
http://hdl.handle.net/10993/43268
Die Formierung des neuen Sozialbürgers. Eine exemplarische Untersuchung von Subjektivierungswirkungen der Hartz IV-Reform ..
German
[en] The Formation of the new Citizen. An exemplary Analysis of the Subjectivating Effects of the German Welfare Reforms
Traue, Boris[University of Luxembourg > Faculty of Language and Literature, Humanities, Arts and Education (FLSHASE) > Integrative Research Unit: Social and Individual Development (INSIDE) >]
Hirseland, Andreas[Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB)]
[en] subjectivation ; labour market policy ; unemployment
[en] This paper traces how the endeavour to influence welfare state addressees’ sense of self through ›activating‹ labor market policies is reflected in the biographical action and account of self of a long-term unemployment benefits recipient. It is based on a qualitative longitudinal case study using a combination of discourse, institutional and biographical analysis (›subjectivation analysis‹). The exem- plary case study explores the shift away from the type of the social democratic welfare citizen towards the type of the liberal ›enterprising‹ subject demanded by the interpellations of the activating welfare state. The analysis demonstrates the methodological potential of subjectivation analysis by proving that while the subjects addressed by such interpellations do make the institutional demands and require- ments their own, this form of appropriation does not conform to the aims of active labour market pol- icy; it remains selective and can lead to a ›de-moralisation‹ of the individual’s relationship with the state, a loss of societal solidarity, and to social withdrawal.