“You Won’t Tell That You Have Schizophrenia, Right? You Should Say You Have a Small Depression”: Organizational Narratives of “Adjusted” Workers with Disabilities and the Rhetoric of Reassurance in France

Author(s):  
Lisa Buchter
Author(s):  
Lucia M. Lanfranconi ◽  
Aditi Das ◽  
Joy Subaran ◽  
Patricia Malagon

Previous research on welfare-to-work exits has focused on individual client characteristics rather than local economic contexts. Drawing on a qualitative comparative case study design, this study enhances our understanding on how welfare-to-work organizational narratives and client experiences of becoming job-ready are shaped across two different economic contexts. In the disadvantaged economic context, a punitive welfare-to-work narrative is operational resulting in clients accepting precarious work. In the more privileged economic context, the individual responsibility narrative dominates as clients struggle to make ends meet. Our findings highlight how regional economic factors shape organizational narratives and impel clients to accept precarious low wage working conditions and unstable housing. Thus, there is a need for alternatives to welfare-to-work, such as unconditional, Universal Basic Income.


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