The role of technologies in the Dutch transition towards a participation society : exploring the tension between delegating responsibility and inducing active solidarity

In 2013 the King of the Netherlands announced that it was time to evolve from a classic welfare state into a “participation society”. The participation society can be interpreted as an alternative to both the neoliberal model of “help yourself” and the social welfare model of “the state takes care of you”. Even though there are economic motives at play, the moral arguments for stimulating people to take responsibility for themselves are brought to the fore in the political debate. Whilst still ensuring that no one falls below a certain threshold, the aim is to induce an “active” type of solidarity. This thesis shows that if we want to bring about societal change, the role of technologies must not be ignored. It is examined in what way technologies may help avoid a responsibility overload and contribute to realising the ideal of “active solidarity”. An analysis of the Dutch case through a selection of eldercare technologies, and an evaluation of the meaning of solidarity through a liberalistic and a care-ethics framework, reveals that there might be a conflict between using technology to provide care and asking people to care. Approaches in philosophy of technology, however, help to see how technologies – both the ones that push human beings to participate as well as technologies that take over parts of the care-process – may still bring about care-relations that can be considered a form of “active solidarity.”