Welfare Racism

Presenting a global overview of discourses of welfare racism across the world by institutional actors, public figures, political parties, and ordinary citizens, this book examines the evolution, character, form, role and consequences of racialized welfare discourse on migrants, asylum seekers, and BIPOC. It focuses on the ideological-discursive dimension of welfare racism in particular, meaning the discourses, rhetorics and narratives that portray migrants, refugees and BIPOC as abusers of welfare systems. With chapters focussed on a variety of contexts including Austria, Belgium, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Norway, Spain, Sweden, South Africa, and the United States, it demonstrates that racialized welfare discourse is a factor in legitimising or fuelling punitive and restrictive measures in migration policies and in welfare policies. The first in-depth study of the phenomenon from a critical racism perspective, this volume expands and consolidates knowledge and studies on racialized welfare discourse as an ideological-discursive dimension of welfare racism. It will appeal to researchers and post-graduate students with interests in critical race studies, racial inequality, migration, public discourse, communication, mass media, social policy, welfare, and social work.