The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (and the Even Uglier): Policy Implications for Europe in Times of Welfare Chauvinism, Penal Populism, and New Workfare Programmes

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly [film] is a 1966 spaghetti Western directed by Sergio Leone. This reference is not random, but pays homage to Pavlos Delladetsimas’s passion for Italian cinema. We use these three labels in this chapter to review common social representations of the poor, as we explore the link between these representations and a range of welfare policies – a topic that has been extensively covered by Flavia Martinelli. The analysis reveals how new forms of blame and moral condemnation of the poor have emerged over time, together with forms of public rhetoric that characterize the poor as unable to provide for themselves and incapable of self-organization, in need of good advice, or idle and dangerous people who require workfare or punitive measures. Degrading stereotypes can be used as a justification for policies that intensify social segregation and as a smokescreen for strategies that use space to defend the advantages of affluent groups. The capacity to develop a counter-narrative and to advance progressive demands depends on a range of economic and non-economic factors, such as demographic characteristics, the duration and severity of poverty, the local context, the availability of alternative role models, social networks, and the presence of associations and political parties capable of providing resources and support.