Across numerous countries with advanced welfare states, governments have relied on a hybrid of publicly funded and delivered welfare services and voluntary charity to meet the needs of people in poverty. Driven by austerity and economic downturns, many scholars agree that governments are increasingly relying on charity as a response to poverty. Taking Australia as a case study, this article demonstrates how the decayed welfare state is not just about outsourcing welfare provision to charities, but also a part of a broader project to cultivate a society in which social problems are responded to through spontaneous, community-led initiatives, powered by the ethical commitment of everyday citizens. We show how this project produces poverty through welfare state retrenchment, whilst simultaneously cultivating charity through material and symbolic support from the state. This results in the construction of charity as an end in itself, with little consideration given to its effectiveness in alleviating poverty.

在许多拥有先进福利国家的国家中，政府依靠公共资助和提供的福利服务与自愿慈善相结合的方式来满足贫困人口的需求。在紧缩和经济衰退的推动下，许多学者同意政府越来越依赖慈善来应对贫困。本文以澳大利亚为例，展示了衰败的福利国家如何不仅仅是将福利提供外包给慈善机构，而且还是一个更广泛的项目的一部分，该项目旨在培养一个通过自发的、社区主导的方式来应对社会问题的社会。倡议，由日常公民的道德承诺提供支持。我们展示了这个项目如何通过福利国家的紧缩来产生贫困，同时通过国家的物质和象征性支持来培养慈善事业。这导致慈善建设本身就是目的，而很少考虑其在扶贫方面的有效性。