Beyond social inclusion through employment: harnessing mutual aid as a complementary social inclusion policy

This article argues that New Labour's reliance on a 'social inclusion throu gh employment' approach is problematic - especially when applied in lower i ncome areas. This is due to the significant gap between actual employment r ates and a full-employment scenario in such areas, its unidimensional view that equates social inclusion with having a job, and its failure to recogni se and value forms of work beyond employment. We evaluate whether and how o ne alternative form of work - mutual aid - could be harnessed to help activ ate social inclusion. Through 400 interviews in UK lower income urban neigh bourhoods, we find little evidence that people use mutual aid, instead pref erring to receive some form of payment. Based on this recognition, the arti cle develops a proposal for an Active Citizens' Credits scheme to activate mutual aid, and in so doing, provide a complementary social inclusion polic y.