A challenge to liberalism? The communitarianism of the Big Society and Blue Labour

Sage, Daniel

doi:10.1177/0261018312444411

Cited by 35 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 21 publications

(39 reference statements)

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“…Indeed this cuts across party lines. There are many parallels between the "Blue Labour" coproduction and cooperative agenda being pursued by Ed Milliband as leader of the opposition and localism and the Big Society (Sage 2012), and the eventual quiescence of Labour to the view that there is no alternative to austerity, suggest a permanent shift in policy framing has occurred in the UK. The "good times" of regeneration in the decade of growth will never return.…”

Section: Are We In a Post-regeneration Era?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Whilst the ideological nature of localism and the Big Society has been noted (Bednarek 2011;Buser 2012;Sage 2012) a continued criticism of these policies at a local level is that austerity has meant they are simply not resourced sufficiently to be successful. Analysis of where the cuts to the local government budget in England are falling have demonstrated that those areas that are seeing the biggest cuts are those which received substantial quantities of discretionary regeneration, economic development and sports and cultural funding under the New Labour governments.…”

Section: The Unequal Nature Of Localismmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Connecting community to the post-regeneration era

Matthews¹,

O’Brien²

2015

After Urban Regeneration

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(2015). Chapter 3 -Connecting community to a postregeneration era. After Urban Regeneration: Communities, policy and place. D. O'Brien and P. Matthews (Eds.) Bristol, Policy Press: 27-44. Chapter 3 Connecting community to the post-regeneration era. Peter Matthews and Dave O'BrienThis chapter aims to bridge the discussion of the history of community in urban regeneration with the rest of the book. It does this by advancing a central argumentthat urban policy has entered a post-regeneration era-along with a specific discussion of the Connected Communities programme. The chapter begins by outlining how and why the era of urban regeneration came to an end, building on the discussion in chapter two, with a specific focus on the combination of broader socioeconomic structures and ideological decisions that have shaped urban policy since 2010. The ideas of localism, city mayors, big society and de-centralisation are all considered, along with practical developments such as the National Planning Policy Framework. These agendas and events are then used to understand the Connected Communities programme and the way that its focus, specifically on co-production and co-development with communities, has come to represent the leading edge of academic research in this area. The chapter concludes by looking forward to the rest of the book, noting the caution struck by chapter 12.

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Section: Are We In a Post-regeneration Era?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Unequal Nature Of Localismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Connecting community to the post-regeneration era

Matthews¹,

O’Brien²

2015

After Urban Regeneration

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“…This also distinguishes the current approach from communitarianism, which would pay more attention to the wider structures surrounding the individual (Sage, 2012).…”

Section: Nudging In Alcohol Policymentioning

confidence: 99%

The rise and fall of the ‘nudge’ of minimum unit pricing: The continuity of neoliberalism in alcohol policy in England

Haydock

2014

Critical Social Policy

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This article explores the continuities in alcohol policy over the past decade under both Labour and Coalition governments. It is argued that these continuities reflect a neoliberal mentality of government whereby market mechanisms are maintained even when the outcomes produced are deemed undesirable. Policies to address these outcomes have focused on the individual citizen, conceived of as a potentially rational decision-maker. If exhortations to behave in the desired fashion do not reap results then measures are targeted at specific individuals or groups of individuals considered flawed consumers. The continuity is examined in light of recent commentary that has identified a trend in policy-making reflecting a loss of confidence in individual rationality and market outcomes, described variously as post-liberalism or neocommunitarianism. It is suggested that the stability of the broader underlying structures of thought that circumscribe contemporary policy discussions should not be underestimated.

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“…Over time its use in policy documents, ministerial statements and speeches appears to have declined somewhat, leading many to pronounce its demise. Nonetheless it has attracted a growing stream of academic analysis, seeking to understand the origins and meaning of the idea, particularly in relation to existing ideological traditions on the right and left, and its translation into a set of policy proposals and practical initiatives (see, for example, Alcock 2010, Smith 2010, Scott 2011, Taylor 2012, Sage 2012.…”

Section: Continuity and Change In Third Sector Policymentioning

confidence: 99%

Decoupling the state and the third sector? The ‘Big Society’ as a spontaneous order

Macmillan

2013

Voluntary Sector Review

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Despite a largely indifferent and otherwise sceptical public reception, the ‘Big Society’ has remained a central feature of the Conservative-led coalition's project in the United Kingdom. This article asks what the Big Society might mean for the ‘third sector’ of voluntary organisations, community groups and social enterprises. The previous Labour government's approach has been characterised as the development of a closer ‘partnership’ between state and the third sector. However, a partial decoupling may now be under way in the new political and economic context. Theoretically, this might signal a shift away from the idea of interdependence between the state and the third sector, and towards a model involving separate spheres: from partnership to an emergent ‘trial separation’. The article draws on Friedrich Hayek's theory of ‘spontaneous order’, suggesting that the Big Society involves some implicit Hayekian assumptions. It concludes by considering the implications of regarding the third sector in such terms.

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A challenge to liberalism? The communitarianism of the Big Society and Blue Labour

Abstract: This article explores how

Cited by 35 publications

References 21 publications

Connecting community to the post-regeneration era

Connecting community to the post-regeneration era

The rise and fall of the ‘nudge’ of minimum unit pricing: The continuity of neoliberalism in alcohol policy in England

Decoupling the state and the third sector? The ‘Big Society’ as a spontaneous order

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