Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T18:01:05.478Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Complying, Transforming or Resisting in the New Austerity? Realigning Social Welfare and Independent Action among English Voluntary Organisations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 December 2014

LINDA MILBOURNE  and
MIKE CUSHMAN
LINDA MILBOURNE
Affiliation:
School of Social Sciences, History and Philosophy, Birkbeck College, University of London email: [email protected]
MIKE CUSHMAN
Affiliation:
Department of Management, London School of Economics and Political Science email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper considers implications for the English voluntary sector of recent shifts in the terms of engagement with the state following rapid political and policy changes under the UK Coalition government. It explores how ideas of what constitutes the voluntary sector are being reconstructed in policy and practical settings, examining processes contributing to re-shaping the voluntary sector's conception of itself and beliefs about legitimate activities and aspirations. It draws on theories of institutional isomorphism and governmentality to explore these changes which appear to be modifying and restricting the voluntary sector's role in social welfare, limiting its influence and its ability to act simultaneously within and against the state. The paper argues the integral role of the state in recasting the roles of different sectors but also discusses the extent to which voluntary sector compliance is necessary to ensure organisational survival, asking what spaces exist for independent activity and resistance.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Social Policy , Volume 44 , Issue 3 , July 2015 , pp. 463 - 485
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aberg, P. (2013), ‘Managing expectations, demands and myths: Swedish study associations caught between civil society, the state and the market’, Voluntas, 24: 3, 537–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alcock, P. and Kendall, J. (2011), ‘Constituting the third sector: processes of decontestation and contention under the UK Labour government in England’, Voluntas, 22: 3, 450–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baines, S., Hardill, I. and Wilson, R. (2011), ‘Introduction: remixing the economy of welfare?’, Social Policy and Society, 10: 3, 337–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baring Foundation (2014), Independence Undervalued: The Voluntary Sector in 2014, London: Baring Foundation.Google Scholar
Barnes, M. and Prior, D. (2009), Subversive Citizens: Power, Agency and Resistance in Public Services, Bristol: Policy Press.Google Scholar
Bawden, A. (2013), ‘We’ve got 5 years left, at best’, Society Guardian, 24 July, 32.Google Scholar
Beveridge, W. (1948), Voluntary Action, London: George Allen & Unwin.Google Scholar
Bevir, M. (2011), ‘Democratic governance: a genealogy’, Local Government Studies, 37: 1, 3–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Billis, D. and Glennerster, H. (1998), ‘Human services and the voluntary sector: towards a theory of comparative advantage’, Journal of Social Policy, 27: 1, 9–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Big Lottery Fund (BLF) (2011), Transforming Local Infrastructure Programme, London: Big Lottery Fund.Google Scholar
Blond, P. (2010), Red Tory, London: Faber & Faber.Google Scholar
Brown, P. (2012), ‘A nudge in the right direction? Towards a sociological engagement with libertarian paternalism’, Social Policy and Society, 11: 3, 305–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, P. and Calnan, M. (2010), ‘The risks of managing uncertainty: the limitations of governance and choice, and the potential for trust’, Social Policy and Society, 9: 1, 13–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buckingham, H. (2011), ‘Hybridity, diversity and the division of labour in the third sector: what can we learn from homelessness organisations in the UK?’, Voluntary Sector Review, 2: 2, 157–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cairns, B., Hutchinson, R. and Aiken, M. (2010), ‘It's not what we do, it's how we do it’, Voluntary Sector Review, 1: 2, 193–208.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carmel, E. and Harlock, J. (2008), ‘Instituting the “third sector” as a governable terrain: partnership, procurement and performance in the UK’, Policy and Politics, 36: 2, 155–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CESI (2012), ‘Save the children appeal attacked for its political agenda’, Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion, London, September 2012.Google Scholar
Clarke, J., Gewirtz, S. and McLaughlin, E. (2000), New Managerialism, New Welfare? London: Sage.Google Scholar
Clegg, S. (1989), Frameworks of Power, London: Sage.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davies, J. S. (2011), Challenging Governance Theory: From Networks to Hegemony, Bristol: Policy Press.Google Scholar
Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) (2012), ‘50 ways to save: examples of sensible savings in local government’, Department for Communities and Local Government, London, December 2012.Google Scholar
Di Maggio, P. and Powell, W. (1983), ‘The iron cage revisited: institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organisational fields’, American Sociological Review, 48: 147–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eikenberry, A. (2009), ‘Refusing the market: a democratic discourse for voluntary and non-profit organisations’, Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 38: 4, 582–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Foucault, M. (1977), ‘Truth and power’, in Gordon, C. (ed.), Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings 1972–1977, New York: Pantheon.Google Scholar
Harris, M. and Rochester, C. (2001), Voluntary Organisations and Social Policy in Britain, Basingstoke: Palgrave.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harris, M. (2010), ‘Third sector organizations in a contradictory policy environment’, in Billis, D. (ed.), Hybrid Organizations and the Third Sector, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 25–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harris, M. and Young, P. (2009), ‘Developing community and social cohesion through grassroots bridge-building: an exploration’, Policy and Politics, 37: 4, 517–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoggett, P. (2004), ‘Overcoming the desire for misunderstanding through dialogue’, in Snape, S. and Taylor, P. (eds.), Partnerships between Health and Local Government, London: Frank Cass, pp. 118–26.Google Scholar
Hoggett, P., Wilkinson, H. and Beedell, P. (2013), ‘Fairness and the politics of resentment’, Journal of Social Policy, 42: 3, 567–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holloway, J. (2005), Change the World without Taking Power, London: Pluto Press.Google Scholar
Horton, C. (2013), ‘Work Programme: when jobs aren't there’, Society Guardian, 21 May 2013.Google Scholar
Hucklesby, A. and Corcoran, M. (2013), Voluntary Sector Involvement in Criminal Justice: Controversies and Challenges, London: Voluntary Sector Studies Network Conference, 15 May.Google Scholar
Kendall, J. and Knapp, M. (1996), The Voluntary Sector in the UK, Manchester: Manchester University Press.Google Scholar
Lever, J. (2011), ‘Urban regeneration partnerships: a figurational critique of governmentality theory’, Sociology, 45: 1, 86–101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewis, J. (2005), ‘New Labour's approach to the voluntary sector: independence and the meaning of partnership’, Social Policy and Society, 4: 2, 121–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lindsey, R. (2013), ‘Exploring local hotspots and deserts: investigating the local distribution of charitable resources’, Voluntary Sector Review, 4: 1, 39–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Long, J. (2012), ‘£46m payout for A4e despite missing Work Programme targets’, Channel 4 news, Social Affairs reports, http://www.channel4.com/news/46m-payout-for-a4e-despite-missing-work-programme-targets (accessed 24 October 2013).Google Scholar
Macmillan, R. (2013a), ‘Decoupling the state and the third sector? The Big Society as a spontaneous order ‘, Voluntary Sector Review, 4: 2, 185–204.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Macmillan, R. (2013b), ‘Distinction in the third sector’, Voluntary Sector Review, 4: 1, 39–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marsden, S. (2011), Pushed to the Edge, London: Locality.Google Scholar
McCabe, A. and Phillimore, J. (2010), ‘Understanding the distinctiveness of small scale third sector activity’, Working paper (33), Third Sector Research Centre, University of Birmingham.Google Scholar
Milbourne, L. (2013), Voluntary Sector in Transition: Hard Times or New Opportunities? Bristol: Policy Press.Google Scholar
Milbourne, L. and Cushman, M. (2013), ‘From the third sector to the Big Society: how changing UK government policies have eroded third sector trust’, Voluntas, 24: 2, 485–508.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller, P. and Rose, N. (1990), ‘Governing economic life’, Economy and Society, 19: 1, 1–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mosley, J. (2011), ‘Institutionalization, privatization and political opportunity: what tactical choices reveal about the policy advocacy of human service nonprofits’, Voluntas, 40: 3, 435–57.Google Scholar
Murray, U. (2012), ‘Local government and the meaning of publicness’, in Manson, J. (ed.), Public Service on the Brink, Exeter: Imprint Academic, pp. 41–66.Google Scholar
National Coalition for Independent Action (NCIA) (2014), ‘Inquiry into the future of voluntary services’, National Coalition for Independent Action, http://www.independentaction.net/category/inquiry-voluntary-services/.Google Scholar
National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) (2013), UK Civil Society Almanac, London: National Council for Voluntary Organisations.Google Scholar
National Coalition for Independent Action (OCS) (2010), Supporting a Stronger Civil Society: An Office for Civil Society Consultation on Improving Support for Frontline Civil Society Organisations, London: Cabinet Office, Office for Civil Society.Google Scholar
Padley, M. (2013), ‘Delivering localism: the critical role of trust and collaboration’, Social Policy and Society, 12: 3, 343–354.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pfeffer, J. (2003), The External Control of Organizations, Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Rees, J., Taylor, R. and Damm, C. (2013), ‘Does sector matter? Understanding the experiences of providers in the Work Programme’, Third Sector Research Centre, Working paper 92, February.Google Scholar
Rochester, C. (2013), Rediscovering Voluntary Action: The Beat of a Different Drum, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rose, N. (1999), Powers of Freedom: Reframing Political Thought, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Slater, D. and Tonkiss, F. (2001), Market Society, Cambridge: Polity Press.Google Scholar
Stake, R. (2000), ‘Case studies’ in Denzin, N. and Lincoln, Y. (eds.), Handbook of Qualitative Research, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Taylor, M. (2011), ‘Community organising and the big society: is Saul Alinsky turning in his grave?’, Voluntary Sector Review, 2: 2, 257–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taylor, M. (2012), ‘The changing fortunes of community’, Voluntary Sector Review, 3: 1, 15–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thaler, R. and Sunstein, C. (2008), Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth and Happiness, London: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Willmott, H. (2013), ‘Can institutional theory be critical?’, Paper presented to 8th International Conference in Critical Management Studies, Manchester, 10–12 July.Google Scholar
Wright, O. (2013), ‘Revealed: the great outsourcing scandal as firms cut corners to cream profits off public’, Independent, 18 July 2013, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/revealed-the-great-outsourcing-scandal-as-firms-cut-corners-to-cream-profits-off-public-8715119.html.Google Scholar