ABSTRACT
The concluding chapter provides a synthesis of the previous chapters. This chapter argues that deservingness is constructed through three key agential constructs – othered, victimised and entrepreneurial agency – that all deal with the issue of responsibility and designation of blame. This chapter includes reflections on how parliamentary discussion, frontline encounters, reality TV and research interview interaction settings differ as fields in which deservingness is talked about and constructed. The findings of this research indicate that deservingness involves circulating forms of moral reasoning and that various actors – such as politicians, legislators, journalists, TV producers, frontline staff and ordinary people – shape, contest and reproduce the discourse and practice in relation to deservingness as a means to achieve different goals.
