Security Versus Freedom

Abstract

Our previous chapter distinguished two competing traditions of citizenship, the social-solidaristic and the social-contractual. In this chapter we shall examine how these different traditions are reflected in contemporary popular discourse. The above quotations (taken from interviews conducted in the course of a recent investigation by the authors) each illustrate contemporary applications of these respective traditions. In practice, the traditions are not so easily separated. People seldom self-consciously choose which tradition they will adopt, rather they seek, according to their circumstances, to reconcile competing desires; the desire for security through citizenship with the desire for freedom of choice. In the process, we may — perhaps any of us on occasions — draw upon not one but several, even mutually contradictory, discursive traditions or moral repertoires.

…. a welfare state is people working together for a better community, for a better standard of life for everybody. I think that, to me, that’s what welfare says. It doesn’t mean go to the bottom, it means bring everybody up to a decent level.

[Male, middle-aged marketing manager]

The right to social security or healthcare isn’t a right, it’s a privilege. … I work hard for my money, I pay my taxes, I pay a lot of tax. What right does a 16 year old have to come along, get pregnant and then be looked after for the rest of their life when they’ve never worked? That’s not a right of citizenship.

[Thirty-something, middle-income, self-employed woman]