The Promise and Deception of Participation in Welfare Services for Unemployed Young People
This study examined the role of welfare services in the participative citizenship of young people under 30 years of age outside the labour market. Thematic content analysis of the government’s white papers regarding participation policies, as well as participatory action research projects in two Fin...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
University of Windsor
2018-12-01
|
| Series: | Critical Social Work |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://ojs.uwindsor.ca/index.php/csw/article/view/5677 |
| _version_ | 1818444642138456064 |
|---|---|
| author | Aila-Leena Matthies Kati Närhi Tuomo Kokkonen |
| author_facet | Aila-Leena Matthies Kati Närhi Tuomo Kokkonen |
| author_sort | Aila-Leena Matthies |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This study examined the role of welfare services in the participative citizenship of young people under 30 years of age outside the labour market. Thematic content analysis of the government’s white papers regarding participation policies, as well as participatory action research projects in two Finnish towns, were used to identify factors that enable or hinder participation for this group of service users. The paradigm of participation was critically examined with reference to the theoretical framework of Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno’s “dialectic of Enlightenment”, which proposes the parallel existence of the promise and the deception of Enlightenment. The results indicated that user participation holds the potential to promote democratization, consolidation, and qualitative improvements in services, especially by valuing experience-based knowledge and enabling the growing political citizenship of young people. However, the promises of the paradigm of participation can turn toward deception when applied as a managerialistic workfare instrument to control young people’s behaviour and can even deepen marginalization by focusing only on their absence from workforce participation. The ambivalent role of social sciences and social work as agencies of Enlightenment in developing participation technologies is also discussed. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-14T19:19:10Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4209d3fb99e1453dab20dc9f67d2f392 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1543-9372 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-14T19:19:10Z |
| publishDate | 2018-12-01 |
| publisher | University of Windsor |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Critical Social Work |
| spelling | doaj.art-4209d3fb99e1453dab20dc9f67d2f3922022-12-21T22:50:24ZengUniversity of WindsorCritical Social Work1543-93722018-12-0119210.22329/csw.v19i2.5677The Promise and Deception of Participation in Welfare Services for Unemployed Young PeopleAila-Leena Matthies0Kati Närhi1Tuomo Kokkonen2University of JyväskyläUniversity of JyväskyläUniversity of JyväskyläThis study examined the role of welfare services in the participative citizenship of young people under 30 years of age outside the labour market. Thematic content analysis of the government’s white papers regarding participation policies, as well as participatory action research projects in two Finnish towns, were used to identify factors that enable or hinder participation for this group of service users. The paradigm of participation was critically examined with reference to the theoretical framework of Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno’s “dialectic of Enlightenment”, which proposes the parallel existence of the promise and the deception of Enlightenment. The results indicated that user participation holds the potential to promote democratization, consolidation, and qualitative improvements in services, especially by valuing experience-based knowledge and enabling the growing political citizenship of young people. However, the promises of the paradigm of participation can turn toward deception when applied as a managerialistic workfare instrument to control young people’s behaviour and can even deepen marginalization by focusing only on their absence from workforce participation. The ambivalent role of social sciences and social work as agencies of Enlightenment in developing participation technologies is also discussed.https://ojs.uwindsor.ca/index.php/csw/article/view/5677paradigm of participationwelfare servicesyoung peopleunemploymentdialectic of Enlightenment |
| spellingShingle | Aila-Leena Matthies Kati Närhi Tuomo Kokkonen The Promise and Deception of Participation in Welfare Services for Unemployed Young People Critical Social Work paradigm of participation welfare services young people unemployment dialectic of Enlightenment |
| title | The Promise and Deception of Participation in Welfare Services for Unemployed Young People |
| title_full | The Promise and Deception of Participation in Welfare Services for Unemployed Young People |
| title_fullStr | The Promise and Deception of Participation in Welfare Services for Unemployed Young People |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Promise and Deception of Participation in Welfare Services for Unemployed Young People |
| title_short | The Promise and Deception of Participation in Welfare Services for Unemployed Young People |
| title_sort | promise and deception of participation in welfare services for unemployed young people |
| topic | paradigm of participation welfare services young people unemployment dialectic of Enlightenment |
| url | https://ojs.uwindsor.ca/index.php/csw/article/view/5677 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ailaleenamatthies thepromiseanddeceptionofparticipationinwelfareservicesforunemployedyoungpeople AT katinarhi thepromiseanddeceptionofparticipationinwelfareservicesforunemployedyoungpeople AT tuomokokkonen thepromiseanddeceptionofparticipationinwelfareservicesforunemployedyoungpeople AT ailaleenamatthies promiseanddeceptionofparticipationinwelfareservicesforunemployedyoungpeople AT katinarhi promiseanddeceptionofparticipationinwelfareservicesforunemployedyoungpeople AT tuomokokkonen promiseanddeceptionofparticipationinwelfareservicesforunemployedyoungpeople |