Welfare policy discourse plays an important role in shaping how marginalised groups are identified and how poverty is addressed. Research on welfare policy discourse has mostly adopted a top-down perspective, examining how marginalised groups are constituted through interrelated discourses that are produced and enacted by powerful actors. However, little attention has been given to understanding how welfare policy discourse is used and enacted by marginalised groups themselves. This article focuses on asset-building discourse, a newly ascendant discourse which suggests that poverty can be alleviated through savings and building wealth. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 24 poor single mothers of colour participating in a matched savings programme, the article explores how poor women rely on asset-building discourse to make sense of their poverty challenges and how to overcome them. The study finds that the women express neoliberal ideals as they seek to portray themselves as committed to becoming self-sufficient, financially literate, disciplined savers and entrepreneurs. The findings indicate that the women feel empowered and see themselves as worthy citizens, irrespective of whether their economic situation has actually improved or whether they ultimately come to resist asset-building discourse's individualisation of their predicament.

中文翻译：

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自己的企业家：贫穷妇女如何制定资产建设话语

福利政策话语在塑造如何识别边缘化群体以及如何解决贫困方面发挥着重要作用。福利政策话语的研究大多采用自上而下的视角，考察边缘化群体是如何通过强大的参与者产生和制定的相互关联的话语构成的。然而，很少有人关注边缘化群体如何使用和制定福利政策话语。本文重点关注资产建设话语，这是一种新兴的话语，它表明可以通过储蓄和积累财富来减轻贫困。根据对参与匹配储蓄计划的 24 名贫困单亲母亲的深入访谈，文章探讨了贫困妇女如何依靠资产建设话语来理解她们的贫困挑战以及如何克服这些挑战。研究发现，这些女性表达了新自由主义的理想，因为她们试图将自己描绘成致力于成为自给自足、有金融知识、有纪律的储蓄者和企业家。调查结果表明，无论她们的经济状况是否确实有所改善，或者她们最终是否会抵制资产建设话语对她们困境的个性化，她们都感到自己被赋予了权力，并将自己视为有价值的公民。