Too scared to protest? How workfare restrains political citizenship

Welfare retrenchment and workfare policies have made it significantly harder for disabled and chronically ill people to get public support. Whilst a number of studies have mapped the effects on living standards and quality of life for these groups, we suggest that welfare cuts can also have significant effects on how people exercise their political rights. As work capability assessments are getting increasingly strict, people relying on support may fear that political engagements will be seen as evidence of work capacity. As a result, people targeted by cuts may refrain from protesting. Based on 11 interviews with chronically ill activists and an extensive netnography, we examine how sick and disabled activists in Sweden perceive and navigate this risk, concluding that stricter assessments of sickness insurance applications influence the propensity to protest against cuts. In effect, there is a significant risk that groups targeted by cuts are not heard in the social policy debate.