Varieties of economic dependence

For several decades, public political discourses on ‘welfare dependency’ have failed to recognise that welfare states are not the source of economic dependence, but rather reconfigure dependencies in a specific way. This article distinguishes four senses ‘economic dependence’ can help clarify what is missing from these discourses, and at stake legal decisions about how we may economically depend upon one another. While feminist, republican egalitarian philosophical work has examined problems dependence states, families markets, present approach adds further dimension our cultural concerns with dependence: it argues reasonable useful consider powerful. Doing so requires clarification ‘varieties exist contemporary societies economies, recognition choices regarding social justice often choosing between varieties escaping entirely.