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Social Solidarity and the Power of Contract - JLS Final Version.pdf (293.15 kB)

Social solidarity and the power of contract

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journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-07, 20:33 authored by Kenneth VeitchKenneth Veitch
This article explores what social policy contracts reveal about contemporary forms of social solidarity, and what they tell us about the nature of social cohesion in Western societies today. Taking the workfare contract as its point of departure, and drawing on Emile Durkheim's work, it is argued that social policy contracts disclose elements of mechanical and organic social solidarity. They function in both punitive and restitutive ways, their exclusionary and inclusive features acting as important sources of contemporary social solidarity. By reference to empirical evidence regarding workfare in various countries, the article highlights the importance of structural factors in determining the success of this policy. It is argued that the moralistic nature of the workfare contract, and the forms of social solidarity it expresses, obscures these deeper structural issues, leaving in place the conditions necessary for the persistence of social suffering characteristic of the post-Keynesian era. The contention is that contract has a de-politicizing effect in the field of social policy.

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Accepted version

Journal

Journal of Law and Society

ISSN

0263-323X

Publisher

Wiley

Issue

2

Volume

38

Page range

189-214

Department affiliated with

  • Law Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2012-02-06

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2017-05-12

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2017-05-12

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