Work and thrive or claim and skive: Experiencing the toxic symbiosis of worklessness and welfare recipiency in Ireland

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dc.contributor.authorWhelan, Joe
dc.date.accessioned2020-09-28T11:33:41Z
dc.date.available2020-09-28T11:33:41Z
dc.date.issued2020-09-09
dc.date.updated2020-09-28T11:23:59Z
dc.description.abstractThe purpose of this paper is to shed much needed light on lived experience in the context of worklessness coupled with welfare receipt in Ireland. In doing so, the work ethic is presented as an objective social force that can be imposed externally and in a number of social and administrative contexts. Coupled with this, receiving welfare is argued as being a ‘problematic’ and potentially shameful social position. On this basis, it will be shown how worklessness and welfare receipt can coalesce to form a ‘toxic symbiosis’, something which can deeply and negatively affect those who experience it. The claims made in this paper are based on original research conducted in Ireland, in which 22 people were interviewed about their general experiences of being welfare recipients and their interactions with the Irish welfare state. Drawing on rich qualitative data, epistemic integrity is offered through depth of understanding meaning that what is presented here sheds lights on the social implications of the continuous denigration of welfare recipiency coupled with the continuous valorisation of work. In a practical sense, this suggests that, on the one hand, a new, less corrosive societal relationship with work is both desirable and necessary in respect to the well-being of persons, while on the other, a more holistic approach to the administration of welfare, in which a return to work is only one part of an overall approach, is both needed and ultimately more humane.en
dc.description.statusPeer revieweden
dc.description.versionAccepted Versionen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.citationWhelan, J. (2020) 'Work and thrive or claim and skive: Experiencing the toxic symbiosis of worklessness and welfare recipiency in Ireland', Irish Journal of Sociology. doi: 10.1177/0791603520957203en
dc.identifier.doi10.1177/0791603520957203en
dc.identifier.eissn2050-5280
dc.identifier.issn0791-6035
dc.identifier.journaltitleIrish Journal of Sociologyen
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10468/10593
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherSAGE Publicationsen
dc.rights© 2020, Joe Whelan. Reprinted by permission of SAGE Publications. This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of the following article: Whelan, J. (2020) 'Work and thrive or claim and skive: Experiencing the toxic symbiosis of worklessness and welfare recipiency in Ireland', Irish Journal of Sociology, doi: 10.1177/0791603520957203. The final authenticated version is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1177/0791603520957203en
dc.subjectWorken
dc.subjectWorklessnessen
dc.subjectWelfareen
dc.subjectWelfare recipientsen
dc.subjectThe work ethicen
dc.subjectIrelanden
dc.titleWork and thrive or claim and skive: Experiencing the toxic symbiosis of worklessness and welfare recipiency in Irelanden
dc.typeArticle (peer-reviewed)en
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