Neoliberal Governmentality and the Individualization of Youth Welfare: A Critical Analysis of the NEET Issue and the TBM and OBM Programs in Turkey
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63556/tisej.2026.1950Keywords:
Neoliberal governmentality, youth welfare, individualization of welfare, NEET, Addiction policiesAbstract
This study examines the transformation of social policy and welfare under neoliberal governmentality in the context of youth welfare in Türkiye. It analyzes how documents frame youth-related social risks and distribute responsibility among the state, families, and individuals. Drawing on qualitative document analysis, it employs critical discourse analysis. The corpus comprises Article 58 of Türkiye’s Constitution, the 2013 National Youth and Sports Policy Document, and institutional documents on the Türkiye Addiction Prevention Training Program (TBM) and School-Based Addiction Intervention Program (OBM); official NEET youth statistics provide contextual information. Findings indicate that public responsibility for protection persists, while employability, individual responsibility, life skills, self-control, and psychological resilience gain prominence. Although TBM and OBM have protective, preventive, and supportive functions, their materials elaborate individual awareness and behavioral change more fully than poverty, insecurity, social exclusion, and access to services. No causal relationship is established between NEET status and addiction because the data concern different analytical levels and target groups; program effectiveness was not assessed. The study concludes that individual interventions should complement rights-based social protection, family support services, and structural social policy instruments.
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