Am I Worth it? Social Investment Discourse as a Frame of Interaction in Welfare Programs for Young People with Drug Problems

Social investment is a policy paradigm; it is not designed as a frame of self-presentation. Nevertheless, once its rationality enters public discourse, it produces new interactional frames and subject positions. An unintended but significant effect is that the discourse may stigmatize marginalized citizens, undermine their sense of entitlement to welfare, and weaken the universal, normative and rights-based principles underpinning the Nordic welfare states.