Hybrid entitlement: Welfare recipients’ perceptions of entitlement to social rights

Einat Lavee

doi:10.1017/s0047279421000441

Abstract

AbstractRecent decades have witnessed changes in welfare states, shaped by a neoliberal ideology that has reduced state responsibility for weakened populations and transformed definitions of citizenship from the universalist notion of social citizenship to the idea of market citizenship. Contemporary welfare policy is based on a disciplinary regime, which aims to produce self-disciplined citizens who adhere to market rules as the most essential civic rules. Following this change in social contract between the state and its citizens, the notion of entitlement to social rights has been transformed into disentitlement to public support. However, economic independence via labour market participation is not always possible and many must rely on welfare support for material survival. This study aims to pinpoint the factors shaping welfare recipients’ perceptions of entitlement. Drawing on 76 in-depth interviews with welfare recipients in Israel, we argue that people’s perceptions of their entitlement to public support are disciplined by the “new” welfare regime of market citizenship, yet simultaneously influenced by “old” perceptions of universal citizenship rights. This kind of “hybrid entitlement” allows welfare recipients to resist exclusion and to avoid disconnection from work and welfare.

Highlights

Entitlement to social rights is traditionally linked to the notion of social citizenship, based on Marshall’s ( ) definition
Three types of entitlement perception were revealed: entitlement based on social citizenship, excluded citizenship and hybrid entitlement
Entitlement based on social citizenship A small number of interviewees expressed perceptions of entitlement based on social citizenship

Summary

Introduction

Entitlement to social rights is traditionally linked to the notion of social citizenship, based on Marshall’s ( ) definition. The modern welfare state model has been developed in keeping with this definition, and theoretically all citizens are seen as deserving of social rights. Entitlement, defined as the awareness of social rights, suggests a sense of deserving that can potentially lead to active claims of benefits and support. In the past thirty years, many Western countries have been abandoning relatively generous welfare systems.

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