In the United States and other Western countries unemployment is high and expected to increase. A whole generation of young people find themselves outside the labor marked due to the financial crisis in Europe, especially in Southern Europe. In addition to the obvious economic impact, the cultural significance of work is affected as employment no longer connotes "normal". A common perception is that unemployment leads to marginalization also in the civil society; those outside the labor marked are in danger of losing their social position, their roles, networks, and dignity. The official ideology of workfare signifies that the goal is to guide the unemployed through various work-fare programs to obtain work and "restore their dignity." But is it necessarily so? One aspect is the labor market’s need for flexible jobseekers that adjust to the market’s variable availability. Another aspect is to question whether the workfare regime result in the opposite - namely a host of unemployed with poorer self-esteem, deprived of the opportunity to other meaningful tasks in civil society because they must prove to be worthy as "everlasting" jobseekers.
In this workshop we explore varies aspects of the relationship between work and integration (meaning the opposite of marginalization). We welcome papers that can provide empirical examples, but also theoretical reflections on this theme. Current issues:
What is the relationship between unemployment and marginalization? What kind of processes lead to “clientification”? What possible effort seems to contribute to the opposite? What are the possible integrative mechanisms - which can counteract alienation and loss of meaning? What is the significance of participation in voluntary organizations of various kinds; for example sports organizations, cultural events and humanitarian or religious organizations in this context? Can the workfare ideology itself have stigmatization and clientification as an unintended effect? What is the possible significance of the historically contingent relationships between civil society, state, market and family, in terms of the local community's ability to deal with the consequences of unemployment? Are there alternatives to workfare as a mechanism for inclusion?
