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Boletim de Análise Político-institucional: Dossiê temático: classes subalternas e instituições públicas. Brasília, Ipea, n. 35, jul. 2023

By Roberto Pires, Vincent Dubois, Ninive Machado, Rogério Medeiros, Gabriela Lotta.

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21th of october 2026

Vincent dubois

From lateral surveillance to horizontal domination: reporting welfare fraud as a product of competition among the lower classes

Discussant: Virgilio Perreira

This paper aims to shed light on the normalization of denunciation in contemporary France, focusing on the reporting of social welfare fraud. It first demonstrates how the rise in such reports is linked to the expansion of anti-fraud policies, coupled with an unprecedented stigmatization of welfare recipients and the incorporation of reports from citizens into administrative surveillance systems. In addition to being a result of public policies, the reporting of benefit fraud stems from social relations within the lower classes, marked by resentment and strategies of distinction toward those at the bottom: the “cassos,” single mothers, and foreigners. The analysis thus demonstrates how horizontal relationships amongsocial agents contribute to state domination, not only through their participation in bureaucratic surveillance but also by reproducing the state categories that socially and symbolically rank social groups.

6-8 PM Paris time