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From Welfare Beneficiaries to Data Subjects: Reimagining Citizenship under Digital Welfare Governance
Author(s): Dr. Ahana SinghAbstract
The transformation of welfare governance through digital technologies is reshaping the relationship between citizens and the state. Traditional welfare systems largely positioned individuals as beneficiaries who interacted with public institutions through physical offices documents and administrative procedures. Increasingly however citizens are represented through databases digital identities biometric records eligibility algorithms and continuously generated data. This paper examines this transition from welfare beneficiaries to data subjects and explores its implications for citizenship social rights dignity privacy and institutional power. Drawing upon theories of citizenship digital governance surveillance administrative power and the capability approach the study argues that digital welfare creates both opportunities for inclusion and new forms of technological dependency. The paper adopts a qualitative and conceptual methodology based on secondary literature policy documents and institutional reports. It argues that when welfare access becomes increasingly dependent on data infrastructures citizens may be judged through data profiles rather than through direct social interaction. The study proposes a rights-based model of digital welfare governance centred on transparency accountability participation privacy and substantive citizenship.