Constructing citizens: a matter of labeling, imaging and underlying rationales in the case of people with dementia

Abstract

A highly significant element in politics and policies is the process of constructing, categorizing and imaging – such as categorizing citizens as target groups. In governing documents, distinctions are drawn to distinguish deserving and undeserving categories of citizens. This paper explores the construction of citizenship for people with dementia and the connection to underlying categories of rationales, by analyzing how this group has been categorized and imaged in policy documents. The study is based on a qualitative textual analysis of national policy documents in Sweden, covering nearly 40 years. It shows that the way people with dementia have been imaged has differed over time, where people living with dementia have been situated in various target groups and discourses. However, to a large extent, the underlying understanding has nevertheless remained persistent where the position of people with dementia has remained weak. It offers a taxonomy of categories of rationales and shows the interplay of rationales and target groups for certain social constructions. The study offers insights into the policy process related to policy change, and on citizenship as something transformative and interrelated that risks upholding democratic values that delimit disempowered groups, in this case people with dementia, to influence their citizenship.

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