Social citizenship was a term first coined by T.H Marshall to argue that the ideal citizenship experience entails access to political, civil, and social rights in estate. According to Marshall, social citizenship includes the whole range from the right to a modicum of economic welfare and security to the right to share in the social heritage and to live the life of a civilized being according to the standards prevailing in society.
“But, if you use these arguments to explain to a pauper that his property rights are the same as those of a millionaire, he will probably accuse you of quibbling... These blatant inequalities are not due to defects in civil rights, but to lack of social rights, and social rights in the mid-nineteenth century were in the doldrums.”
In the nineteenth century, Marshall believed that social rights were dangerously lacking, hence, he used the example of a poor man rejecting the idea that his rights are of the same essence as a rich man. Marshall also establishes the existence of social class where income unevenly distributed separates these classes from one another and encourages social inequality. Education was another major factor that contributed to social inequality. “The right to freedom of speech has little real substance if, from the lack of Education…”, unfortunately, those who were born into affluent families received a better education than those born into privation, if they even received any education at all. This lack of knowledge and intellect ameliorated the gap between the upper and lower class-men. The idea of capitalism Marshall also establishes plays a major role within the social class. The wealthy upper class, although a small sum of the population, is the ruling class, and due to their social status, it subjects the lower class to remaining poverty-stricken and debilitates them from having any power and property. These inequalities expressed by Marshall were thriving in the nineteenth century which he believed refurbished in the 20th century.
I chose this quote because social inequality is a construct that we still face in the 21st century. The United States thrives off of capitalism, the wealthy take advantage of the poor and maintain their high rank. Although political and civil rights are obtainable by everyone, I believe that social rights are still a huge problem in our society today. There are families living in the US that do not have access to healthcare or acceptable living conditions. In our capitalist society, the focus is always dismal when it comes to the low-working class and unfortunately the gap between them will always exist.
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