The changing nature of work, higher education and social protection raises the fundamental question about the relationship among employability, welfare state and democracy. In the current times, we find governments shifting responsibility towards employability from the state to the individuals and households in the wake of neoliberalism. This shift in paradigm has profound implications for citizenship, social rights and democratic legitimacy both in the developed and developing world. This panel proposes to explore further whether the growing emphasis on employability represents a necessary adaptation of the welfare state to globalization, privatization and technological changes required in the era of artificial intelligence.
It further raises the question whether employability-oriented policies can actually reconcile with economic competitiveness, social citizenship and democratic inclusion. The panel aims at exploring three interconnected questions – (1) how far the meaning of the term employability has evolved within contemporary welfare state policies, (2) what are the likely consequences of the transition from collective social protection to individual responsibility in terms of acquiring employable skills and experiences, (3) how far this transformation is likely to affect democratic participation, social justice and political trust.
We would welcome well researched papers based upon comparative experiences from the North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin America and Australia. Papers dealing with the role of higher education, vocational education and training, digitalization, labour market policies and platform or gig economy from the perspective of political science, comparative welfare state result, public policy and political economy are most welcome. There is plenty of scope for case studies based upon youth protest over unemployment jeopardising the existing democracies and welfare states in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Kenya, Canada, UK, etc.
The central question before the panel would be: when higher education promises employability but economies fail to provide decent work, how far the welfare states help in curbing social protests within democratic framework. It would be relevant to ponder over the basic question: whose responsibility is it anyway?
