Reflection On Citizenship

Citizenship is being a part of a community in which all members have rights and obligations (Fleury, 2010). T.H Marshall in his 1949 lecture ‘citizenship and social class’ suggested that all citizens of a welfare state would have equal social status, being able to fully participate in the market economy, democracy and overall society (Dean & Melrose, 1999). When I think of my experiences of living in multiple welfare states (the UK, Sweden and the Netherlands), I never felt that every citizen had equal opportunities, there were always those who were excluded society. In this reflection, I aim to explore the extent of equality between people living in Welfare states. I will first examine T.H Marshall’s conception of citizenship, then cover

Marshall argues that citizenship in modern western society has followed a historical process: as each member gained civil rights equal treatment in front of the law, it was natural for them to demand full political rights and by gaining suffrage they received the political power to claim legalised social rights (Revi, 2014). By having civil, political and social rights all citizens are equally able to compete in the market economy and participate in political democracy (Dean & Melrose, 1999). He presented citizenship in modern western societies, as closed (only including nation members) and rights based, terming it as social citizenship for it enables members full participation in society (Revi, 2014). The welfare state is the active provider of social citizenship, as it delivers social benefits and services required to meet citizen’s social needs (Taylor-Gooby, 2009). Marshall’s concept of social citizenship is universalistic, as rights and obligations apply to all members equally (Dominelli, 2014). T.H. Marshall did not believe that social citizenship would result in absolute equality, but that each individual citizen would receive equal treatment and access to public services provided by the welfare state (Marshall, 2008). Marshall’s main aim was that social citizenship would generate a meritocratic society in which social stratification results from merit and not class (Dean & Melrose, 1999) (Revi, 2014). However, Marshall’s vision has not been achieved in

Brown (2014) argues that Marshall’s universal construct assumes citizens are homogenous white, middle class, heterosexual and non-disabled men. This assumption not only favours one social group over the rest, but it actively reinforces the notion that all other social groups are inferior in relation to social citizenship (Dean & Melrose, 1999) (Fleury, 2010). Another key issue with Marshall’s concept of citizenship is that it assumes social rights are equivalent to civil and political rights. However, social rights are inferior in relation to implementation as it depends on administrational procedure, that can easily change depending on the governing party’s priorities (Dean & Melrose, 1999). This enables exclusionary practices by welfare states, as they can choose who is able to access social rights, thus different social divisions experience social citizenship differently (Dominelli, 2014). An example case is the changing social citizenship status of refugees in