Ain’t I a human being?’

Self-documentation of living in poverty in the face of the abandoning state

Bibliographic Data

ID12937703
AuthorsDana Evan Kaplan (0000-0001-6705-5004, Open University of Israel, corresponding author), Gal Levy (0000-0002-8177-3392, University of Michigan), Avigail Biton (Open University of Israel), Riki Kohan-Benlulu (Open University of Israel), Helly Buzhish-Sasson (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev)
Year2022
Volume30
Issue3
Pages210-229
Publication date2022-09-11
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Poverty and Social Justice (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1759-8273 • E-ISSN: 1759-8281
PublisherPolicy Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1332/175982721x16590949557486
OpenAlexW4295162459
LanguageEN
References cited29

How is life in social isolation seen from the viewpoint of people who experience persistent poverty? Given the systemic denial of self-representational agency from those living in poverty and the neoliberalisation of the welfare state, this article turns to those who remained invisible to either the media or the state during the pandemic. In line with current tendencies to prioritise the voice and lived knowledge of people in poverty, we provided our interlocutors with a specifically designed diary tool to allow them to share their mundane experiences and thoughts at their own discretion. Using these diaries of women and men in poverty, and complementary interviews, this article unpacks the ways our participants deal with and understand their everyday relationships with the absent state, mostly welfare and education. Based on the themes that emerged from our interlocutors’ journals, our findings reveal the Janus-faced abandoning/monitoring state that they routinely confront. We then demonstrate how they are constantly chasing the state, struggling to receive the support they lawfully deserve. At the same time, being subjected to practices of state monitoring and surveillance often results not only in mistrust but also in withdrawing almost altogether from the welfare services and social workers, and turning to alternative support networks. We conclude by offering two insights that accentuate, on the one hand, what we and our diarists already know, namely that they count for nothing. Still, on the other hand, the act of self-documentation itself reveals the representational agency of those brave diarists who refuse to forsake their worthiness as citizens

Agency (philosophy · Denial · Documentation · Face (sociological concept · Political science · Politics · Poverty · Public relations · Social science · Sociology · Spell · State (computer science · Welfare · Welfare state · Gender, Feminism, and Media · Homelessness and Social Issues · Law · Psychology · Youth Education and Societal Dynamics

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