ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Sociol.
Sec. Sociology of Emotion
Volume 10 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fsoc.2025.1411526
This article is part of the Research TopicAffecting, Emoting, and Feeling Disability: Entanglements at the Intersection of Disability Studies and the Sociology of EmotionsView all 10 articles
Feeling the Fear of Many: Orienting Affects in Swedish Austerity Politics
Provisionally accepted
- Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
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This article provides a novel exploration into the emotional consequences of austerity politics that have targeted services and support for disabled citizens in Sweden. By drawing on qualitative interviews, the study investigates the dominant feeling of fear experienced by disabled citizens. By employing crip phenomenology, the article reveals how austerity measures shape the practical living conditions and the emotional landscape of disabled citizens, thereby leading to a sense of disorientation and existential insecurity as well as increased incidents of bodily harm. An analysis of affects in this context reveals the profound impact bureaucratic violence and ableist discourse have on disabled citizens' everyday lives, thus constraining their ability to envision and pursue a fulfilling personal future. Furthermore, the study challenges prevailing notions of 'Swedish exceptionalism' by demonstrating how the affects produced by said bureaucratic violence disrupt the experience of citizenship for disabled citizens. This study contributes to the growing body of literature on disability studies and welfare state governance, offering insight into the intricate interplay between power, discourse, and emotions in a contemporary welfare state.
Keywords: Affect, austerity, Welfare state, Disability, Orientation, crip phenomenology (Min
Received: 03 Apr 2024; Accepted: 09 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Bylund. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Christine Bylund, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
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