Active labour markets and the “right” not to work

In recent years in Great Britain, “New Deal” policies have incorporated a range of micro-level tactics in the field of employment which in their intention at least, appear to change the delicate balance between responsibilities, rights, voluntarism and compulsion in the relationship between citizen and state.One such tactic is to make receipt of financial benefits when unemployed, dependent on provision of proof of an active search for work. The purpose of this strategy is to enforce the discipline of the labour market and to impose a sense of responsibility to work as part of the requirements of citizenship.Such tactics raise questions about the relationship between work, citizenship, and rights. Does citizenship status for example, now require that people work and develop responsibilities (to other citizens) and if so are we re-writing the idea of the rights of citizenship