MARGIN

The Representation of Marginalised Interests
in the Welfare State (MARGIN)

People who experience poverty or other socioeconomic disadvantages are not only materially deprived; they are also subjected to social and political exclusion alongside stigmatisation. The formation, representation, and advocacy of their interests in democratic decision‑making processes are therefore highly challenging: marginalised individuals and groups rarely possess sufficient power resources, often lacking the capacity to articulate and organise their interests, let alone engage in and sustain political conflict and struggle.

The doctoral programme examines the dynamics of marginalisation and the representation of marginalised interests in the German welfare state through three prisms: advocacy, co-advocacy and self-advocacy. Struggles for political representation may be initiated by individual social workers or service users, or they may arise collectively through trade unions, social and welfare organisations, and other civil society actors.

The PhD projects investigate:

1. The nature of interests and how they are formed at both individual and collective levels;
2. Why certain interests become marginalised at particular historical moments and under specific configurations of the welfare state;
3. How the representation of marginalised interests within the welfare state can be initiated and organised—i.e., how processes of marginalisation can be interrupted or reversed;
4. How different forms of representation are discursively constructed and how discursive constructions and potentials for political mobilisation mutually reinforce one another;
5. The instruments used in struggles for representation and the conditions under which various demands are effectively asserted.

The PhD projects are linked to four research strands: trade union research, organisation studies focusing on disadvantaged interests, social movement research, and political social work research. A pluralistic theoretical framework is pursued in the interdisciplinary doctoral programme, situated at the intersection of political science, sociology, and social work research. Both qualitative and quantitative perspectives are incorporated, drawing on a range of methodological traditions.