Reproducing a municipal reserve army? A qualitative study on doing class through municipal subsidised employment programmes

This article contributes to research on activation practices and inequality reproduction, analysing how class is done in Swedish municipal subsidised employment (SE) programmes. Drawing on focus groups and interviews with 45 participants, 41 social workers and four managers in six programmes, the study uses Acker’s inequality regimes theory and Offe’s distinction of class categories in the labour market. Findings reveal that the SE programmes do class by sorting and adapting participants into low-wage, precarious jobs and enforcing labour market conformity. Constructions of ethnicity and gender also shape how class is done, reflecting broader patterns of ethicised and gendered labour market segregation. Subsidised employment functions as a cost-saving measure for municipalities, reducing social assistance costs by creating a flexible, low-cost workforce with limited protections. The “municipal reserve army” supports labour market competition and wage suppression, underscoring the role of such programmes in sustaining class inequalities.