Paper short abstract:

The long economic crisis is provoking an intense debate in Spain about what are the basic entitlements of citizens. Mainstream social thinking argues that the poor tend to abuse the welfare system; the poor are starting to challenge in a collective way their entitlement to a minimum income.

Paper long abstract:

High rates of unemployment in the EU have become, since the onset of the last economic recession (2008-2009), key issues for governments, ordinary people and social scientists. Generalised unemployment, informal and precarious work have blurred the boundaries between 'work' and 'no work', what constitutes an economic activity in order to get a livelihood.

The so-called unemployed and the poor possess an array of strategies such as unemployment benefits, assistance from charity organisations, and irregular work in the informal economy.

Mainstream economists and civil servants tend to emphasize the abuse of public assistance on the part of the unemployed and the poor. In their opinion, high assistance levels do not encourage people to look for jobs. They also think that most of those claiming assistance from the state and NGOs work in the informal economy and therefore are abusing the system.

On the other hand, the unemployed and the poor show signs of coming together in associations of the unemployed, against evictions and through new NGO's assisting those in need. The political expression of their needs is the 'basic income'. And they pursue in a practical way by combining different economic strategies or by arguing, politically, their entitlement to a minimum income.

This presentation is based on fieldwork in Andalusia, Spain, in two NGO's working with the poor. I intend to show how the economic crisis and subsequent stagnation initiated in 2008 is provoking an intense debate in Spanish society about what are the basic entitlements of citizens.