“The sanctions are good for some people but not for someone like me who actually genuinely does their job search.” British Jobseeker’s Allowance claimant views on punitive welfare reform: Hegemony in action? 

　　

　　Abstract

　　This article shows that the unemployed are broadly supportive of welfare reforms which have led to increased poverty; exacerbated ill health; led some to engage in “survival crime” or to disengage from the social security system. This support is predicated on the perceived need to discipline “undeserving” groups; principally the feckless, those gaming the system and migrants. The authors argue that this reflects the success of a “two-nations” hegemonic project that has sought to legitimise an ongoing phase of capitalist development characterised by the removal of social protections, widening inter-class inequalities and the implementation of punitive welfare reforms to submit the unemployed to insecure poverty labour. This article makes a significant original contribution to the field by demonstrating that the resonance of the “two-nations” hegemonic project resides in both its relatability to lived experiences of the unemployed and its tendency to cast a stigmatising threat over their out-of-work status.

　　From: Capital & Class 2023 47 (3)

　　Editor: Wang Yi