Social rights in a post-productivist society

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K21149
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Politics; Social welfare and social work studies
• Research Institution: Osaka University
• Principal Investigator: Endo Chikako 大阪大学, 人間科学研究科, 准教授 (00609951)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: 社会権 / 労働 / 自立支援 / 生産主義

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Social rights are said to have shifted from the fulfillment of needs through income redistribution towards enabling people's freedom to act through active welfare and social investment policies. Nevertheless, both of these approaches assume a productivist paradigm that prioritizes economic growth and efficiency over reciprocal fairness. This research argues that protecting people's freedom to act as equal participants in society requires democratizing society's background institutions (the institutions of ownership and production, as well as welfare provision) in a way that upholds people's equal status. While Japanese activation policies promote participative and cooperative forms of welfare provision in the community, further research is required to understand their position and influence in relation to the mainstream economy and society.

Free Research Field

政治学・政治理論、社会福祉学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

再分配的福祉国家が人々の物質的必要を満たすことに重点を置くのに対し、積極的福祉政策・社会的投資戦略は多様なライフコースを歩む人々の自律的選択・社会参加を可能にする点で社会権を刷新するものとして捉えられる場合がある。本研究の学術的および社会的意義は、公正な社会参加の条件として人々を既存の労働市場につなげることには限界があり、人々の人生機会を左右する経済および福祉制度そのものを民主化する必要性を示したことである。