Manage and make productive: The New Zealand National Party's social investment policy.

The article examines the New Zealand National Party’s 2022–2023 Social Investment (SI) policy, which aims to manage and transition young unemployed welfare recipients into paid work through targeted interventions using big data and philanthropic funding alongside state resources. Drawing on Zygmunt Bauman’s concept of "rational bureaucratic culture," the policy is analyzed as part of a neoliberal framework that emphasizes individual responsibility, early intervention, and efficiency, while raising concerns about ethical implications, potential stigmatization, and the dehumanizing effects of data-driven governance—particularly for Māori youth and other marginalized groups. The policy’s reliance on predictive risk management tools and contracting community organizations reflects a shift toward privatized welfare delivery, prompting debates about data justice, transparency, and the balance between social good and fiscal savings.