Social Welfare Discourses and Scholars’ Ethical-Political Dilemmas in the Crisis of Neoliberalism
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12901832 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Francesco Laruffa (0000-0003-4240-8162, University of Geneva, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2019 |
| Volume | 13 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 323-339 |
| Publication date | 2019-05-15 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Ethics and Social Welfare (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1749-6535 • E-ISSN: 1749-6543 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/17496535.2019.1615525 |
| OpenAlex | W2946604893 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 58 |
Discourse is central in promoting – or hindering – social change. This paper discusses the ethical-political dilemmas that academics face in developing progressive discourses on social welfare in the hegemonic crisis of neoliberalism. A central dilemma concerns the (implicit or explicit) target of their discourse. Speaking to elites reproduces dominant values and interests, reinforcing central elements of neoliberalism such as economisation and de-politicisation. Moreover, this approach remains technocratic (i.e. academics act as experts), thereby failing to address citizens’ distrust towards ‘scientific evidence’ that characterises the hegemonic crisis of neoliberalism. A possible alternative is to work together with civil society and marginalised groups for promoting an oppositional discourse. In this way scholars may contribute to the democratisation of the public sphere but may fail to influence the content of policies, remaining trapped in marginal political positions. The paper illustrates this tension focusing on ‘social investment’. This discourse – which is today the most important framework for welfare reform among academics – emphasises the economic benefits of social policy for promoting alternatives to welfare retrenchment. Building on a research project aimed at re-thinking social investment from Sen's capability perspective, the paper discusses the conditions for developing a post-neoliberal discourse on social welfare
Civil society · Neoliberalism (international relations · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Retrenchment · Sociology · Technocracy · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism · Law · Public Administration · Social Policy and Reform Studies · Social Sciences and Governance
Relationship-based practice training and youth outcomes
Transformative practice
Creating equilibrium
Eco-social policies, capitalism and the horizon of emancipatory politics
What is a Capability-enhancing Social Policy? Individual Autonomy, Democratic Citizenship and the Insufficiency of the Employment-focused Paradigm
Seeds of Dystopia
Power and ideology in education
Auf dem Weg zu einer Post-Neoliberalen Sozialpolitik? Sozialinvestition versus Capability-Ansatz
Why We Need a New Welfare State
Changing Welfare States
Towards A Social Investment Welfare State?Ideas, Policies and Challenges
The Third Way
Development as Freedom
For Public Sociology
Social Justice Scholarship in a Neoliberal Governance Context
What should social welfare seek to achieve? Applying the capability approach
Diffusing Ideas for After Neoliberalism
Human beings as receivers, doers and judges. The anthropological foundations of sustainable public action in the capability approach
Sen, Ethics, and Democracy
Principles of Critical Discourse Analysis
Bernie Sanders and the Hegemonic Crisis of Neoliberal Capitalism
Against work
Ideas and Social Policy
Neoliberal Reason and Its Forms
The Terms of the Neo‐Liberal Consensus
Thinking Like an Economist
Framing Social Justice In Education
Third Way Theory
The Idea of Power and the Role of Ideas
Beyond Empiricism
The social exclusion discourse
Social investment as a policy paradigm
Power through, over and in ideas
Deliberative democracy in the real world, the contribution of the capability approach
Making Sense of ‘What Works
The Birth of Biopolitics
Some considerations on the validity of evidence-based practice in social work
Speaking of change
Discursive Institutionalism
The Capability Approach
Critical discourse analysis and critical policy studies
Research, policy and funding - academic treadmills and the squeeze on intellectual spaces1
Gramsci's political thought and the contemporary crisis of politics
Non-normative critique
Citizen participation, agency and voice
Partisan, scholarly and active
Flourishing lives
From Knowledge to Informational Basis
Towards a Critical Sociology of Democracy
Movements Making Knowledge
It May be Social, But Why is it Capital? The Social Construction of Social Capital and the Politics of Language
Political Agency and Capabilities Formation Through Participatory Action Research
Using Final Ends for the Sake of Better Policy-Making
Academics, Cultural Workers and Critical Labour Studies
Inventiveness in politics
Facts, power and global evidence
Dissolving the Public Realm? The Logics and Limits of Neo-liberalism
| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,83 |
| Citation span | 2020 - 2026 (7) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 5 |