Temporal clashes between lived time and institutional time: The experiences of vulnerable unemployed

Beskrivelse

Marginalized citizens wait more than others do. This is especially true for citizens who are affected by physical or mental illness as well as social problems such as poverty, drug abuse or unemployment. Wait time can involve a sense of meaninglessness; that time has stopped and that you have no future, because of pervasive uncertainty. The interaction between social-, health- and employment services and citizens may involve temporal conflicts, when institutional time meets citizens’ lived time. If the lived time of citizens’ is neglected or overruled by the institutional time, the possibilities of helping citizens are reduced, and vulnerable citizens risk increased marginalization. Wait time may be related to a loss of temporal control: the citizen is unable to influence the timing, sequentiality and duration of interventions or treatments. Previous research indicates that temporal control is an important by overlooked dimension of client participation (Nielsen et al. forthcoming). Further, scholars such as Bourdieu (2000) and Auyero (2012) have suggested that waiting is related to power inequalities and that waiting may deprive the citizen of a sense of a future and foster a submissive subjectivity. Therefore, it is crucial to understand the role of temporality in the interaction between welfare state and citizen, particularly for vulnerable citizens.
This study examines the temporality of the interaction between citizens and social- and employment services for the vulnerable unemployed in Denmark. We focus on the vulnerable citizens’ temporal control and their experience of temporal conflicts in the interactions with the welfare state. Through a long-term collaboration with four Danish municipalities, we seek to develop services to allow citizens greater temporal control and to take citizens’ lived time into account. Hence, we are both working towards developing social- and employment services and developing the understanding of the role of temporality in producing power inequalities in the meeting between welfare state and citizen.

Periode	4 aug. 2021
Begivenhedstitel	SSSP: The Society for the Study of Social Problems Annual Meeting: Revolutionary Sociology: Truth, Healing, Reparations and Restructuring
Begivenhedstype	Konference
Konferencenummer	71st
Grad af anerkendelse	International