Samenvatting

The shift from ‘passive’ to ‘activating’ welfare states has made labour market participation of citizens a core objective of contemporary active social policies. This shift is reflected in the nature of various social services for vulnerable groups and, by consequence, the roles and responsibilities of social workers. ‘Activation work’, consisting of services to promote labour market inclusion of vulnerable groups, has become a common aspect of social services. Nowadays, social workers in various public, private and non-governmental contexts deal with issues of labour market inclusion and exclusion of their clients, often with managerial and political imperatives to find the shortest pathway to work and to implement disciplinary policies such as financially sanctioning certain behaviours of their clientele.