The struggle for social citizenship in the 2020s

Transcript:The struggle for social citizenship in the 2020s:
The struggle for social citizenship in the 2020s Mick Moran and Karel Williams Social citizenship: the heart of the constitution Mick Moran’s insight: “Social citizenship should be at the heart of our understanding of the constitution” Constitution not just a procedural mechanism: rules on representative democracy, institutions, territories Constitution has a substantive core: a set of rights and duties which answer the question what does it mean to be a citizen. (After 30 years of neo liberalism) the radical right has fixed on the wrong things; “ take back control” = procedural, “build a wall” = exclusionary . Our issue is substantive inclusion The original concept : T H Marshall on social citizenship in 1950 SC1 SC 1 = entitlements for every citizen: ‘the whole range from the right to a modicum of economic welfare and security to the right to share in the full social heritage and live the life of a civilised being according to the standards prevailing in society’ Anticipates Sen and Nussbaum but narrowly centred on 1950s “ welfare state”: ‘the institutions most closely connected with it (SC) are the educational system and social services.’ Standard criticism: triumphalist Whig history of the achievements of the white working class male in high income countries 1850-1950 Echoes of SC: “ universal basic“ proposals of 2017- 2018 Social citizenship largely forgotten by 2000s except in debates about disability: with ideas, the dogs bark and the caravan moves on But echoes and resonance in 2015 post advocacy of universal basic entitlements which are about citizenship often without using the word: universal basic income: small scale experiments all over Europe universal basic infrastructure: Industrial Strategy Commission 2017 on rail and broad band universal basic services: UCL Sustainable Prosperity on extending NHS principle to eg free local transport A new struggle ? social citizenship for the 2020s SC2 Citizenship is a lens for understand our economic and social achievements and challenges but lets change the balance: SC1 was about an achievement: what benevolent government gifted citizens as natural persons SC 2 Is about a challenge: sets true north on the compass of social struggle about the rights and duties of citizens (natural persons and corporations) Requires us to understand in a foundational frame how the world has moved on + moved backwards since 1950s. Then, analyse the preconditions of SC2: A pragmatic concept of government: essential but not always benign and capable