Page 155 - Contemporary Political Sociology Globalization Politics and Power

Citizenship 141

Most importantly, since Marshall was looking forward to the consoli-
dation of citizenship in 1948, states have all been involved, and restruc-
tured to different degrees, in processes of neo - liberal globalization. It is
not so much that the state has lost control of economic processes with
the end of the Keynesian management of capitalism, although this is often
the way globalization is represented in the rhetoric of politicians. Neo -
liberalism is an economic project, but it has been facilitated by states
(Scott, 1997b ). Although the ideal of neo - liberalism is the free market,
the reality is market - driven government (Somers, 2008 : 93 - 5). In relation
to social citizenship, neo - liberalizing states have been involved in rolling
back their own frontiers, to paraphrase Margaret Thatcher, especially in
relation to the costs of social rights. In Marshall ’ s terms, they have been
involved in extending the market and narrowing the sphere of public life
in which citizens were supposed to enjoy equality. In actual fact, this has
led to complex new arrangements between states and markets rather than
a reduction in state intervention altogether (Crouch, 2001 ).
“ Market fundamentalism ” has been most advanced in the UK and the
US, where it originated in the policies of the “ New Right ” and has now
been taken over to a greater or lesser extent by political parties on the
center - Left. Although there have been some attempts to redraw the bound-
aries between states and markets elsewhere in Europe, including
Scandinavia, incursions into social insurance and rights to education and
healthcare have been much more energetically resisted there, as elsewhere
in Western Europe, and have not advanced to anything like the same
extent (Cochrane et al., 2001 ; Harvey, 2005 : 112 – 15).
In the UK, there have been a range of reforms aimed at reducing the
cost of the welfare state which have had direct impact on citizens ’ access
to social rights. The most prominent of these effectively re - create citizens
as consumers. In some cases, there is a kind of quasi - marketization, as
when, in the UK, parents are encouraged to choose a local state school
for their children (when previously, they would have been expected to
attend the one nearest their home) or – if they can afford it – to send
them to private, fee - paying schools. Similarly, although healthcare remains
universal in the UK, those who can afford it are now encouraged to
supplement treatment in the National Health Service with private medical
insurance. State pensions are so low they must be “ topped up ” by paying
into private schemes, and so on. Not only does this mean that citizens
receive different treatment according to their income, it also reduces
commitment to “ universal ” citizenship rights and results in the stigmat-
ization of those who have only access to inferior services. Similarly in the