The Politics of Dependence Economic Parasites and Vulnerable Lives

The central claim of this book is that the dichotomy between economic dependence and economic independence is completely inadequate for describing the political challenges faced by contemporary capitalist welfare states. The simplistic contrast between ma

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Patrick J. L. Cockburn

The Politics of Dependence Economic Parasites and Vulnerable Lives

Patrick J. L. Cockburn Department of Philosophy and History of Ideas Aarhus University Aarhus, Denmark

ISBN 978-3-319-78709-1 ISBN 978-3-319-78908-8  (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78908-8 Library of Congress Control Number: 2018938324 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018 Parts of Chapter  3 originally appeared in “Street Papers, Work and Begging: ‘Experimenting’ at the Margins of Economic Legitimacy,” Journal of Cultural Economy 7(2) (2014): 145–160. www.tandfonline.com/; http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17530350.2 013.837630 These extracts are reproduced here by permission of Taylor & Francis. This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Cover credit: Hannah Stouffer/Getty Images Printed on acid-free paper This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer International Publishing AG part of Springer Nature The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland

For Nia and Ffion. May you be as beautiful as adults as you are now.

Preface

This book is an attack on the idea of ‘the self-made man.’ The sense of independence and merit concentrated in that idea quickly dilutes once we actually take the trouble to look at our economic practices. But as societies we often fail to do this. Why? Unfortunately, the contrast between independence and dependence is a very useful political weapon. I wrote this book at a time when it was once again becoming normal and acceptable in public political discourse to openly scapegoat social groups and suggest that their removal would bring justice and prosperity. In June 2016, voters in the UK voted to leave the European Union after months of pol