Social rights in the shadow of poor relief – social assistance in the universal Swedish welfare state

• The idea of a European social citizenship is being developed by the EU to provide a minimum safety net. Questions about social citizenship are of fundamental importance in people’s everyday lives. Social assistance is a central dimension when studying social citizenship. Before discussing in terms of a European social citizenship, we should determine whether we have a social citizenship at the national level. We therefore analyse the Swedish welfare state, one of the most mature welfare states in the EU. We conclude that the social right to social assistance is not part of modern citizenship, nor does it follow the formal principles of legal citizenship rights. The law presupposes a considerable amount of discretionary power at the local level when it comes to identifying the deserving poor; something that goes against the definition of a legal citizenship right. The right to social assistance is still a reproduction of the old poor-relief logic.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Sociologi -- Socialt arbete (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Sociology -- Social Work (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

social assistance

social citizenship

EU

minimum safety net

europena social citizenship

national level

Welfare states

law

discretionary Power

local level

poor

deserving poor

right

old poor-relief

Social citizenship

Socialt arbete

Publikations- och innehållstyp

art (ämneskategori)

ref (ämneskategori)