Judith Elshout graduated with distinction as MSc in Sociology from the University of Amsterdam. Her master’s thesis focused on motivations for going to the gym and the rise of commercial fitness chains.
In 2016, she published her PhD thesis A Call for Respect, which explores how long-term unemployed individuals – those considered ‘distanced from the labour market’ – navigate in citizen activation projects while preserving and rebuilding their self-respect in an increasingly meritocratic society. The study examines how unemployment is experienced, how people cope with it, and what these experiences mean for their sense of self-worth.
Central themes in her research include sources of self-respect, the meaning of paid work, and the symbolic and material value of financial rewards. In her analysis, financial compensation is not merely understood in economic terms but also, and perhaps primarily, as a symbolic source of recognition and dignity.
An English summary of the dissertation is available here: A Call for Respect: Experiences of Unemployed Workers in a Meritocratising Society.
A selection of (Dutch) publications can be found under the section: Publicaties. For an example of her academic work in English, see: Elshout, J., Kampen, T. (joint first author) & E. Tonkens (2013) The Fragility of Self-Respect. Emotional Labour of Workfare Volunteering. Social Policy and Society, 12 (3): 427-438.
Her research interests include dignity and (informal) labour, the relationship between work and identity, fitness culture, and gender (in)equality.
