Colloqium
Between Self-Determination and the Compulsion to Self-Responsibility – Active Social Citizenship in the Care Policies of European Welfare States

The strengthening of self-responsibility is a key feature of the shift from "social citizenship" to "active social citizenship", which has been evident in various policy fields of most European welfare states for several years. In the field of care policy, this development means, among other things, that those in need of care should take more self-responsibility for organising or financing their care provision, that prevention and rehabilitation are gaining relevance, or that family members should (again) be more involved in the provision of care.

Against this background, this presentation by Dr. Thurid Eggers (SOCIUM, Bremen) examines the ways in which the self-responsibility of people in need of care and their relatives is strengthened in the care policies of different welfare states, whether this is linked to a restriction or an expansion of social rights to care provision and what consequences this has for the social risks of the actors involved. It also considers on which ideas and discourses this change is based and whether the ideas of care policy and public health have changed along with it.