African Studies UK 2018 conference in Birmingham

Addressing Inequality: New forms of Welfare, Social Protection and Citizenship in Africa

Ruth Prince convened a Stream titled "Addressing Inequality: New forms of Welfare, Social Protection and Citizenship in Africa", which resulted in 4 inter-disciplinary panels.

Panels included 1) Public Goods and Private Markets 2) The role of the state, NGOs, international institutions and global players in new forms of welfare and social protection 3) Moral economies of claim-making: class, care, obligation and reciprocity 4) Social protection on the ground: experiences, attitudes, frictions and tensions.

In total, 15 scholars presented their research from countries across Africa on cash transfer programmes, health insurance markets, public goods and infrastructures, and moral economies of work, labour, welfare and redistribution.

Summary of the theme.

After three decades of structural adjustment and amid widening inequality and a growing recognition that poverty-alleviation programmes have largely failed, we are currently witnessing experiments with new forms of welfare and social protection on the African continent. Cash Transfer programmes, Basic Income Grants and Universal Health Coverage are three examples of experiments in welfare that are gaining currency in the Global South, including in Africa. These moves appear to be progressive as they draw on a language of solidarity, inclusion and equity and recognize the role and responsibility of the state towards its citizens, appearing to push against ‘the death of the social’ that is so often decried in neoliberalism. However, they could also be simply ‘sticking plaster’ solutions, which lack a vision of real social transformation. Current experiments in welfare are being employed within different political ideologies and may be watered down by various political and economic interests. Finally, while recent moves in poverty alleviation have been hailed as “a development revolution from the South”, in many cases, moves towards great social protection are being pushed entirely by powerful global players that, moreover, explicitly bypass state institutions. The tensions and paradoxes surrounding these schemes make experiments with new forms of poverty alleviation across the African continent an intriguing site for research.

Published Oct. 29, 2018 3:06 PM - Last modified Sep. 15, 2022 9:13 AM