Self-reliance, not welfare state security. notes on the changing landscape of social security

Changes in the way people are integrated into the labour market are a main theme of current debates on the limits of Germany's traditional welfare state. Increasingly, individual self-reliance and the market are normatively revaluated. In a nutshell, the new welfare state strategy puts more emphasis on re-commodification than on de-commodification. In this paper, I will analyse the effects which re-commodification has on the individual's stakeholdership. I will argue that re-commodification diminishes the options of material and institutional stakeholdership. Thus, gainful work becomes increasingly important to take part in society.