Talking about needs and rights in inter-agency meetings : interpretive contests in Swedish welfare provision
Keywords:
Inter-agency collaboration plays a central role in contemporary Swedish welfare provision and access to social security for citizens that are long-term unemployed and suffer from ill-health. Drawing on Nancy Fraser's theorization on 'the politics of needs interpretation', this article examines how needs and rights are interpreted and contested in inter-agency meetings involving local representatives from national. regional and municipal welfare agencies. Contextualized against social security reforms that put emphasis on the limitation of access and a 'work-first' approach, the article suggests that localised inter-agency meetings of this nature are arenas where perceived injustices are symbolically elaborated and challenged 'from within' welfare organisations. Although discourses emphasising self-sufficiency and the importance of work tend to act as depoliticising and normalising, the way they are implemented in practice is not passively accepted by front-line professionals, who questions interpretive justifications, as well as harmful consequences for individuals.