Zwischen Cash und Care

Soziale Teilhabe in der aktivierenden Arbeitsmarktpolitik

Abstract

This article examines concepts of inclusion for individuals experiencing longterm
unemployment in the context of the activating labour market policy. Drawing on
a theoretical framework of inclusion and the distinction between »cash« and »care,« the
study examines how actors involved in means-tested basic income support and personal
social services understand inclusion. The analysis is based on guided expert interviews
with staff from job centres and social service. These interviews are examined using
qualitative content analysis from a sociology-of-knowledge perspective. Initial findings
indicate that inclusion is not uniformly understood in this policy context. Instead, its
meaning varies according to institutional context with a focus on employment-oriented
understandings of inclusion, which, however, are countered by interpretations that link
inclusion more strongly to stabilization and problem-solving. The article suggests that
inclusion in activating labor market policy should be analysed as a conflictual and
institutionally embedded field of interpretation.