The Cruel Optimism: The Paradox of the Norwegian Welfare State and Precarious Labor Conditions
This presentation discusses how the Norwegian welfare state and labor market regulations
contribute to creating precarious working conditions and lives. The welfare state promises that
everyone can live a good life if they contribute to the welfare state through work and taxes.
Simultaneously, inclusion in the welfare state is based on meeting certain criteria (such as legal
residence) and performing work recognized by the state as employment. This creates particular
challenges for migrants, including EU migrants and refugees. We call this dynamic the cruel
optimism of the welfare state. The Norwegian labor market has been known as safe and regulated.
Yet, in recent years the way work and the labor market are organized have changed. We suggest
that the welfare state produces and maintains precarious working conditions, despite politicians’
argument of doing the opposite. Drawing on fieldwork in three sectors, gig-economy, construction
and cleaning, we discuss the increase of insecure jobs and increasingly precarious working
conditions where migrants are particularly vulnerable. We argue that precarious working conditions
are partly shaped by political measures and implementation, such as labor activation policies,
workfare policy, the integration regime, and welfare state bordering, with consequences for
people’s lives and trust in the welfare state.
contribute to creating precarious working conditions and lives. The welfare state promises that
everyone can live a good life if they contribute to the welfare state through work and taxes.
Simultaneously, inclusion in the welfare state is based on meeting certain criteria (such as legal
residence) and performing work recognized by the state as employment. This creates particular
challenges for migrants, including EU migrants and refugees. We call this dynamic the cruel
optimism of the welfare state. The Norwegian labor market has been known as safe and regulated.
Yet, in recent years the way work and the labor market are organized have changed. We suggest
that the welfare state produces and maintains precarious working conditions, despite politicians’
argument of doing the opposite. Drawing on fieldwork in three sectors, gig-economy, construction
and cleaning, we discuss the increase of insecure jobs and increasingly precarious working
conditions where migrants are particularly vulnerable. We argue that precarious working conditions
are partly shaped by political measures and implementation, such as labor activation policies,
workfare policy, the integration regime, and welfare state bordering, with consequences for
people’s lives and trust in the welfare state.
Publisert i Symposium on Precarities and Temporalities in Migrantory Contexts, 2025
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