Articlegreen2015

‘Benefits broods’: The cultural and political crafting of anti-welfare commonsense

258 citations0/0 files storedCritical Social Policy

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Social Policy and Reform Studies Crime, Deviance, and Social Control Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism

Abstract

In the aftermath of the global banking crises, a political economy of permanent state austerity has emerged, driven by and legitimated through a hardening anti-welfare commonsense. We argue that, while there is an excellent evidence base emerging around solidifying negative public attitudes towards welfare, critical policy studies needs to attend to the cultural as well as the political economies through which an anti-welfare commonsense is formed and legitimated. We adopt a ‘cultural political economy’ approach to examine the cultural and political crafting of ‘benefit brood’ families within the wider public sphere, to examine the mechanisms through which anti-welfare sentiments are produced and mediated. Through a case study of Mick Philpott, we demonstrate how ‘benefits broods’ operate both as technologies of control (through which to manage precariat populations), but also as technologies of consent through which a wider and deeper anti-welfare commonsense is effected.

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References

1978Policing the Crisis 1978Policing the Crisis: Mugging, the State, and Law and Order 2013Revolting Subjects 2010Crafting the Neoliberal State: Workfare, Prisonfare, and Social Insecurity1 2011THE NEO-LIBERAL REVOLUTION 2010Cultural political economy and critical policy studies 2013Towards a Cultural Political Economy 2013Crafting the neoliberal state: workfare, prisonfare and social insecurity*

Cited by

2018The right to be weary? Endurance and exhaustion in austere times 2020The Dark Sides of Social Policy: From Neoliberalism to Resurgent Right‐wing Populism 2018Food banks, actually existing austerity and the localisation of responsibility 2016Welfare, Austerity and Social Citizenship in the UK 2017Lesbian brides: post-queer popular culture 2017Portraying Poverty: The Economics and Ethics of Factual Welfare Television 2018Troubling Meanings of “Family” for Young People Who Have Been in Care: From Policy to Lived Experience

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