Austerity as Bureaucratic Violence: Understanding the Impact of (Neoliberal) Austerity on Disabled People in Sweden

Abstract

Drawing on a framework offered by Bauman and literature from disability studies and other sociological areas, this article argues that the experience of austerity for disabled people in Sweden is one of bureaucratic violence, shaped by disablism. The article aims to broaden the sociological conceptualisation of bureaucratic violence to include disablist austerity within its purview. It utilises fieldwork data from interviews with disabled people in Sweden to explore how welfare bureaucracy isolates and dehumanises disabled people. It also examines how Swedish welfare bureaucracies obscure the impact of austerity on this population. Due to the convergence of neoliberalism and austerity in Sweden, the exploration of bureaucratic violence opens up important questions regarding the Social Darwinist elements in neoliberal theory. Ultimately, bureaucratic violence is a useful concept for sociologists for two reasons: it sheds austerity of its technocratic veneer and connects lived experiences of welfare reform to the lethal consequences of austerity.