The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

The articulation of neoliberalism: narratives of experience of chronic illness management in Bulgaria and the UK

The articulation of neoliberalism: narratives of experience of chronic illness management in Bulgaria and the UK
The articulation of neoliberalism: narratives of experience of chronic illness management in Bulgaria and the UK
The shift from social democratic to a neoliberal consensus in modern welfare capitalist states is characterised by an emphasis on individual responsibility, consumer choice, market rationality and growing social inequalities. There has been little exploration of how neoliberalism has shaped the environment within which chronic illness is experienced and managed. This article explores the different articulations of neoliberalism manifest in the arena of personal illness management in Bulgaria and the UK. People with type 2 diabetes discussed their experiences in terms of struggling with diet, diabetes as a personal failure, integrating illness management and valued activities, and the trustworthiness of the healthcare system. The UK narratives were framed within an individual responsibility discourse while in Bulgaria lack of resources dominated discussions, which were framed as structurally generated and unrelated to individual capabilities and choices. Respondents faced personal management challenges related to consumer and healthcare market failures in both countries. Differences in market regulation and emerging stakeholder and interest coalitions influenced users' expectations and their navigation and adaption to market failures in managing their everyday illnesses. The UK and Bulgarian articulations of neoliberalism can be described differently: the first as a logic of managed choice and the second as a logic of unmanaged consumerism.
0141-9889
349-364
Vassilev, Ivaylo
d76a5531-4ddc-4eb2-909b-a2a1068f05f3
Rogers, Anne
105eeebc-1899-4850-950e-385a51738eb7
Todorova, Elka
06f536d8-a442-4a47-8bfb-cfc975a2693c
Kennedy, Anne
e059c1c7-d6d0-41c8-95e1-95e5273b07f8
Roukova, Poli
06abef50-0687-4550-8f68-56f8ddb9bee8
Vassilev, Ivaylo
d76a5531-4ddc-4eb2-909b-a2a1068f05f3
Rogers, Anne
105eeebc-1899-4850-950e-385a51738eb7
Todorova, Elka
06f536d8-a442-4a47-8bfb-cfc975a2693c
Kennedy, Anne
e059c1c7-d6d0-41c8-95e1-95e5273b07f8
Roukova, Poli
06abef50-0687-4550-8f68-56f8ddb9bee8

Vassilev, Ivaylo, Rogers, Anne, Todorova, Elka, Kennedy, Anne and Roukova, Poli (2017) The articulation of neoliberalism: narratives of experience of chronic illness management in Bulgaria and the UK. Sociology of Health & Illness, 39 (3), 349-364. (doi:10.1111/1467-9566.12488).

Record type: Article

Abstract

The shift from social democratic to a neoliberal consensus in modern welfare capitalist states is characterised by an emphasis on individual responsibility, consumer choice, market rationality and growing social inequalities. There has been little exploration of how neoliberalism has shaped the environment within which chronic illness is experienced and managed. This article explores the different articulations of neoliberalism manifest in the arena of personal illness management in Bulgaria and the UK. People with type 2 diabetes discussed their experiences in terms of struggling with diet, diabetes as a personal failure, integrating illness management and valued activities, and the trustworthiness of the healthcare system. The UK narratives were framed within an individual responsibility discourse while in Bulgaria lack of resources dominated discussions, which were framed as structurally generated and unrelated to individual capabilities and choices. Respondents faced personal management challenges related to consumer and healthcare market failures in both countries. Differences in market regulation and emerging stakeholder and interest coalitions influenced users' expectations and their navigation and adaption to market failures in managing their everyday illnesses. The UK and Bulgarian articulations of neoliberalism can be described differently: the first as a logic of managed choice and the second as a logic of unmanaged consumerism.

Text
Manuscript Varieties of Neoliberalism Revised manuscript no tracked chan....doc - Accepted Manuscript
Download (216kB)
Text
The articulation of neoliberalism.pdf - Version of Record
Restricted to Repository staff only
Request a copy

More information

Accepted/In Press date: 13 June 2016
e-pub ahead of print date: 4 November 2016
Published date: March 2017
Organisations: Faculty of Health Sciences

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 402546
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/402546
ISSN: 0141-9889
PURE UUID: 0a1bf0cf-113d-49ad-8cdc-4878b551619d
ORCID for Ivaylo Vassilev: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-2206-8247
ORCID for Anne Kennedy: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-4570-9104

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 09 Nov 2016 16:18
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 06:03

Export record

Altmetrics

Contributors

Author: Ivaylo Vassilev ORCID iD
Author: Anne Rogers
Author: Elka Todorova
Author: Anne Kennedy ORCID iD
Author: Poli Roukova

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×