Introduction to the digital welfare state
Contestations, considerations and entanglements
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2399819 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Georgia Van Toorn (0000-0002-6660-8479, UNSW Sydney, corresponding author), Paul Henman (0000-0002-9923-6587, The University of Queensland), Karen Soldatic (0000-0001-8139-2912, CERC – Health Equity and Community Wellbeing, Canada; Toronto Metropolitan University, Canada) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 60 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 507-522 |
| Publication date | 2024-09-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Sociology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1440-7833 • E-ISSN: 1741-2978 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/14407833241260890 |
| OpenAlex | W4401034061 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 18 |
| References cited | 64 |
This article introduces a special issue of the Journal of Sociology focused on critical analysis of the digital welfare state. The digitalisation of welfare policy, institutions and service delivery has led to increased scrutiny, social sorting and surveillance of welfare recipients and other marginalised groups. This collection of papers contributes to current debates about digital welfare using sociological approaches which foreground the role of power relations and human agency in shaping these dynamics. We provide introductory insights into themes explored within the collection, including the connection of digitalisation with 'the social', the role of digital technologies in truth-making, and the importance of humans and their labour in operationalising digital welfare. In addition, we highlight the value of sociological research in revealing the various processes and relationships through which state power is constituted and expressed digitally
Agency (philosophy) · Economics · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Power (physics) · Public relations · Scrutiny · Social science · Sociology · State (computer science) · Value (mathematics) · Welfare · Welfare state · Digital Economy and Work Transformation · Gender, Feminism, and Media · Law · Social Media and Politics
An ‘interface first’ welfare state
Devolving digitalisation
Algorithmic Centralism in a Fragmented Welfare State
From Global to Local
Automated welfare surveillance in the datafied welfare state
The Cyberfare State
The taming of sociodigital anticipations
Experiencing Social Exclusion and Distrust
AI in Everyday Life
Engaging Mental Health Students in Transformative Research Methods
Checks and balances under pressure in the welfare state
Robodebt cultures and useful idiots
Bytes, barriers, and logics
The Digital Welfare State
‘This is a matter of life and death for efficiency’
A sociology without humans
Exposed to the elements
Ageing and technology in the policy discourse on public services digitalisation
Shaping technology/building society
How Artifacts Afford
We Are Data
Welfare Conditionality
Digital Era Governance
Standards
The second wave of digital-era governance
The Black Box Society
Understanding the Mixed Economy of Welfare
E-Government and the Production of Standardized Individuality
Data and rights in the digital welfare state
Computerizing the welfare state
The (Neo)Tribal Nature of Grindr
Predict and Surveil
Sorting Things Out
The Information State in England
Archaeology of Knowledge
Digital Administrative Burdens
Predicting risk in criminal procedure
Datafication and the Welfare State
Technological Politics of Automated Welfare Surveillance
Of algorithms, Apps and advice
Digital discretion
The Biometric Assemblage
Financialization and Welfare Surveillance
Digital citizenship and disability in the covid era
Robo-debt illegality
Unveiling algorithmic power
Explaining convergence of OECD welfare states
The accidental caseworker – How digital self-service influences citizens' administrative burden
Debt by design
Big Data in Social Welfare
Digital informalisation
Social media’s canaries
Australian Journal of Social Issues
Digital welfare state and problem arising
Datafied child welfare services
From Street‐Level to System‐Level Bureaucracies
The three worlds of welfare capitalism
Automating Inequality
The Human Rights Implications of the Use of AI in the Digital Welfare State
Risking Children
Algorithmic Justice in Child Protection
In Search of a Problem
Seeing Like a State
Digitizing Sociology
Digital Social Policy
The Social Division of Welfare Surveillance
| Unique citing works | 18 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 18 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 18 |