Table Of ContentDeservingness in Welfare Policy and
Practice
This book discusses and illustrates how deservingness can be approached as a
discursively and rhetorically accomplished phenomenon having varied empirical
consequences with regard to welfare, poverty, class and care arrangements.
Providing a thorough analysis of how deservingness representations are
generated in the twenty-first century by focusing on the analysis of discourse
and rhetoric of policymakers, reality TV participants, frontline workers and
unemployed individuals, it shows that different actors actively participate in
constructing representations of deservingness through which a variety of political,
practical and social implications and objectives are achieved and performed. The
book addresses key themes such as:
• What kinds of rhetorical and discursive tactics can be associated with un/
deservingness?
• How deservingness is accomplished as a speech act?
• How do different actors such as policymakers, reality TV programme
participants, frontline workers and individual citizens participate in
constructing un/deservingness?
• What kinds of practical implications and consequences do deservingness
representations have for policy making, frontline work and research?
This book will be of interest to all scholars and students of social policy, social
work, sociology, social psychology, political science and media studies.
Laura Tarkiainen (DSocSc) is a university lecturer and postdoctoral social work
researcher at Tampere University. Laura’s research interests concern discourses on
prolonged unemployment, conditionalities, poverty and deservingness.
Social Welfare Around the World
Series editor: Bent Greve
Roskilde University, Denmark
This series publishes high quality research monographs and edited books focusing
on development, change in provision and/or delivery of welfare - with a primary
focus on developed welfare states. The books provide overviews of themes such as
pensions, social services, unemployment or housing, as well as in-depth analysis of
change and impact on a micro level. The impact and influence of supranational
institutions on welfare state developments are studied as are the methodologies
used to analyse the ongoing transformations of welfare states.
1. The Transformation of the Social Right to Healthcare
Evidence from England and Germany
Katharina Böhm
2. Welfare State Transformation in the Yugoslav Successor States
From Social to Unequal
Marija Stambolieva
3. Long-term Care for the Elderly in Europe
Development and Prospects
Edited by Bent Greve
4. Health Care Systems in Developing Countries in Asia
Edited by Christian Aspalter, Kenny Teguh Pribadi, Robin Gauld
5. Empowerment and Control in the Australian Welfare State
Philip Mendes
6. Generational Tensions and Solidarity Within Advanced Welfare States
Edited by Asgeir Falch-Eriksen, Marianne Takle and Britt Slagsvold
https://www.routledge.com/Social-Welfare-Around-the-World/book-series/ASHSER1427
Deservingness in Welfare Policy
and Practice
Discursive and Rhetorical Approaches
Laura Tarkiainen
First published 2023
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2023 Laura Tarkiainen
The right of Laura Tarkiainen to be identified as author of this work has
been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Tarkiainen, Laura, 1985– author.
Title: Deservingness in welfare policy and practice : discursive and rhetorical
approaches / Laura Tarkiainen.
Identifiers: LCCN 2022015538 (print) | LCCN 2022015539 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781032127002 (hbk) | ISBN 9781032127088 (pbk) |
ISBN 9781003225829 (ebk)
Subjects: LCSH: Public welfare. | Social service. | Social policy. | Poverty.
Classification: LCC HV51 .T38 2023 (print) | LCC HV51 (ebook) |
DDC 361.6—dc23/eng/20220607
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022015538
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022015539
ISBN: 978-1-032-12700-2 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-12708-8 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-22582-9 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003225829
Typeset in Goudy
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Contents
Acknowledgements vii
1 Introduction 1
Age-old, yet contemporary 2
Structure and aims of the book 3
References 6
2 Deservingness theories and conceptualisations 8
Quantitative approaches in previous deservingness studies 10
Unemployment, welfare recipiency and deservingness 12
Deservingness and border crossing 16
Health deservingness 19
References 21
3 Policy discourse and deservingness 28
Deserving and undeserving policy target groups 29
Rhetoric in parliamentary discussions 30
The undeserving freeloader in need of an attitude adjustment 33
The deserving and effortful unemployed person lacking control over
one’s situation 36
A needy unemployed person deserving the welfare state’s reciprocal
acts 38
Conclusions 41
References 43
4 Reality TV’s representations of deservingness 46
Deservingness in media and reality TV 47
Rich House, Poor House format 50
Deservingness of wealthy people: representations of hard work and
charitable acts 51
vi Contents
Deservingness of people living in poverty: representations of
entrepreneurial attitude and legitimate need 54
Conclusions 57
References 60
5 Frontline workers and deservingness assessments 63
Frontline workers putting welfare policy into action 64
Unemployed people’s deservingness negotiated at the frontline 66
Discursive positioning in interviews 68
Motivated and deserving client 70
Unfortunate and deserving client 72
Resistant and potentially undeserving client 74
Blameworthy and undeserving client 76
Conclusions 78
References 80
6 Deservingness negotiated in research settings with individuals 85
Performing deservingness in interviews 86
Interviews with long-term unemployed Finns 89
Means of disassociating oneself from the ‘other’: addressing one’s
proximity to the deserving ‘us’ 90
Declining the category applied during interviews: addressing neediness
as a deservingness cue 93
Enriching the cultural image of unemployment: addressing the lack of
control as a deservingness cue 95
Conclusions 97
References 99
7 Conclusions 102
Othered, irresponsible and undeserving agent 105
Victimised and deserving agent lacking responsibility 107
Entrepreneurial, responsible and deserving agent 109
Final remarks 111
References 112
Index 114
Acknowledgements
The idea for this book resulted from my association over many years with two dif-
ferent institutions – the University of Helsinki and Tampere University. Numerous
colleagues at various institutions have helped me on too many occasions to count.
However, my heartfelt gratitude goes to Professors Maritta Törrönen, Marketta
Rajavaara and Helena Blomberg of Helsinki University. I thank you for recruiting
me for your research projects; most of the ideas in this book were formulated while
collaborating with you and others involved in those important projects. I also want
to thank Dr Eveliina Heino of the University of Helsinki for encouraging me for
all these years and for her friendship, particularly for having faith in me to finish
this book.
I thank the administration of Tampere University for all of the institutional
support extended to me over the course of our association. My special thanks
also go to Dr Sirpa Saario whose help and kindness as a teaching colleague have
been extremely meaningful during the writing of this book. In addition, there are
number of students to thank for useful discussions that have helped me to be a
better instructor.
Also, to all of the editorial staff at Routledge, I commend you and appreciate
your insightful guidance; I particularly want to mention Senior Editor Claire Jarvis
and Editorial Assistants Catherine Jones and Sully Evans here. For the production
stage of the book, I want to thank Tiffany Cameron and Denise File.
My greatest appreciation goes to my family and friends. While working on this
book, my best friends Pilkku and Nappe have offered priceless support – many
thanks for all the walks and fun that had nothing – or at least very little – to do
with deservingness.
1 Introduction
The overall aim of this book is to discuss and illustrate how deservingness can be
approached as a discursively and rhetorically accomplished phenomenon with a
variety of empirical consequences. In previous literature, deservingness has been
robustly theorised, especially vis-à-vis welfare, poverty, class and care arrange-
ments. Although the concept of deservingness is used in a range of disciplines –
such as moral philosophy, political science, law, psychology and social policy – it
has yet to be explored theoretically and practically in relation to different actors’
discourse and rhetoric. In this book, deservingness is perceived as intimately
linked to language use, thus rendering the analysis of talk the primary subject of
the book.
This book will provide an analysis of how deservingness representations are
generated in the twenty-first century by focusing on the analysis of the discourse
and rhetoric of policymakers, reality TV participants, frontline workers and unem-
ployed individuals. To meet these objectives, the book will introduce previous
research on deservingness and elucidate its key arguments along with empirical
examples from Finland. The book will include both theoretical and empirical
chapters, which at a methodological level will help in understanding what kinds
of implications deservingness negotiations have for welfare policy as well as social
care and research practices. Since the book applies a social constructionist view-
point, it is understood that different actors actively participate in constructing
representations of deservingness through which a variety of political, practical and
social objectives are achieved and performed.
This introductory chapter provides the background for discursive and rhetorical
work on deservingness and introduces the general aims, justifications and struc-
ture of the book. First, it will briefly present research that argues that welfare
deservingness assessments can be regarded as an age-old idea dating back to the
early poor relief systems that distinguished people living in poverty as deserving
support (e.g. financial assistance and access to services) versus those regarded as
less deserving. Second, the introduction will illustrate the argument that welfare
deservingness discourse is highly relevant not only from a sociohistorical view-
point but also from the contemporary welfare state perspective.
DOI: 10.4324/9781003225829-1
