Warwick Socio BrumBrexit

This policy approach appears to create a number of problems for the government,
and for wider society. Despite the imperative of austerity, the state makes itself liable
for the accommodation and living costs of asylum seekers if it is not to breach their
human rights by making them destitute. ‘Asylum support’ includes housing and
financial support (for food and other basic subsistence goods) which is set as low
as 50% of the welfare payments made to citizens for some. This is below the official
poverty line. Living precariously has negative consequences for the physical and
mental health of asylum seekers as well as for wider society.
Though recent governments have sought to minimise welfare provision for the
unemployed and promote working as positive for both individuals and society,
asylum seekers are maintained in a position of welfare dependency. At the same
time, politicians warn that welfare benefits act as an incentive to economic migrants
to use the asylum route to enter Britain, thus providing a justification for limiting
financial support as much as possible.
This project seeks to investigate the reasons behind these policy choices. Why are
certain approaches favoured over others, and what evidence is drawn on in reaching
these conclusions? It also looks at the impacts of the policy approach taken and
the ways in which non-state actors (such as charities) become involved in providing
supplementary support to aid asylum seekers.
For more information please visit the project website: asylumwelfarework.com
Prof. Steve Fuller
Professor | Department of Sociology | S.W.Fuller@warwick.ac.uk
Since the 23 June 2016 referendum that voted to take the UK out of the European
Union, Fuller has published the following posts which can be found collected here
on his Warwick webpage here:
http://tinyurl.com/z2zdowc
The articles draw on social and political theory to explain the outcome along
several dimensions, including the role of elites, expertise, political discourse,
cosmopolitanism, intergenerational conflict, political timing and populism.
In his piece for University World News (07 October 2016 Issue No:431) Fuller
discusses the implications of the striking “anti-expert” rhetoric that surrounded the
referendum for academics and universities, using a comparison with the ‘think for
yourself’ trends of the Protestant Reformation and Enlightened University pioneer
Wilhelm von Humboldt. Rather than necessarily a cause for pessimism for producers
of academic knowledge, Brexit’s rejection of ‘expertise’ could constitute a rallying
call for academic leaders to return the Humboldtian value of “openness of inquiry”
and the training of “citizens with the wherewithal to be active participants in the
governance and enrichment of their society” (Fuller, 2016).
Fuller also made two videos (available on his YouTube channel: Prof. Steve Fuller)
explaining Brexit:
They are entitled “What is Brexit?” and “Aftermath of the EU Referendum”
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1WGCvbISDr5-t0ZeYw9tHQ
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