403 Policy & Politics • vol 42 • no 3 • 403-19 • © Policy Press 2014 • #PPjnl @policy_politics Print ISSN 0305 5736 • Online ISSN 1470 8442 • http://dx.doi.org/10.1332/030557312X655972 article Credit union modernisation and the limits of voluntarism Stephen Sinclair, Glasgow Caledonian University, UK stephen.sinclair@gcu.ac.uk Successive UK governments have sought to increase financial inclusion by investing in credit unions. However, responses within the British credit union movement to the government’s latest modernisation and expansion proposals reveal a
Policy & Politics vol 29 no 2 281 © The Policy Press, 2001 • ISSN 0305 5736 The role of Scottish credit unions in tackling financial exclusion Keith Hayton Key words: credit unions • financial exclusion • sustainability • support infrastructure Final submission 16 March 2001 • Acceptance 5 April 2001 English The British government’s desire to tackle financial exclusion is resulting in growing interest in credit unions (community-based financial services cooperatives). This article draws on research undertaken in Scotland to analyse the credit union support
95 SIX Community finance: the emergence of credit unions in London Paul A Jones and Michelle Howlin In the United Kingdom (UK), credit union interventions to serve the poor and financially excluded have been recognised by local and regional government and supported, from the beginning of the 1990s, by grant aid and in-kind support (Jones, 1999). Tackling financial exclusion through credit unions became UK government policy and strategy from around 1999 (HM Treasury, 1999) and, by 2006, credit unions were receiving significant financial investment from
117 ar tic le 3 © The Policy Press • 2011 • ISSN 1759-8273 Journal of Poverty and Social Justice • vol 19 • no 2 • 2011 • 117–29 • 10.1332/175982711X573987 Key words credit union • progressive universalism • financial exclusion Just another financial institution? Tensions in the future of credit unions in the United Kingdom Lee Gregory1 and Mark Drakeford For some the association of credit unions with tackling financial exclusion has been seen as a source of growth while others argue that it threatens their sustainability. This paper argues for an approach
cooperative discourse on mutual self-help through the launch of a campus-based credit union. Our initial motivation was to provide students with attainable access to revolving funds, so that they could avoid financial strain in a dignified way. However, we soon realised that student precarity is not simply due to financial constraints, even though it may seem so at first. There are also broader inequalities and barriers confronting them, fortified by a set of contradictory beliefs. One such inequality emanates from the global trend of neoliberal rhetoric that prioritises
The politics of austerity has seen governments across Europe cut back on welfare provision. As the State retreats, this edited collection explores secular and faith-based grassroots social action in Germany and the United Kingdom that has evolved in response to changing economic policy and expanding needs, from basic items such as food to more complex means to move out of poverty.
Bringing together scholars from different disciplines and practitioners in several areas of social intervention, the book explores how the conceptualization and constitutive practices of citizenship and community are changing because of the retreat of the State and the challenge of meeting social and material needs, creating new opportunities for local activism.
The book provides new ways of thinking about social and political belonging and about the relations between individual, collective, and State responsibility.
Bringing together new, multidisciplinary research, this book explores how children and young people across Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas experience and cope with situations of poverty and precarity.
It looks at the impact of neoliberalism, austerity and global economic crisis, evidencing the multiple harms and inequalities caused. It also examines the different ways that children, young people and families ‘get by’ under these challenging circumstances, showing how they care for one another and envisage more hopeful socio-political futures.
Should the public play a greater role within the financial system?
Decisions about money are a part of our everyday lives. Supporters promote financial inclusion as a way of helping people navigate decisions about money. However, critics fear these policies promote the financialisation of the welfare state and turn citizens into consumers.
Presenting a nuanced, critical analysis of financial inclusion, Rajiv Prabhakar brings together the supportive and critical literatures which have, until now, developed in parallel. Addressing key issues including the poverty premium, financial capability and housing, this essential dialogue advances crucial public, academic and policy debates and proposes alternative paths forward.
Social enterprises - real businesses that trade for a social purpose - are a growing phenomena with an increasing role to play in society, but there is widespread confusion and controversy over the definition of the term.
This exciting book includes nearly forty interviews with the most influential and experienced social enterprise practitioners, supporters, thinkers and policy makers. In their own words, they discuss their organisations, values and world-changing goals, providing fresh clarity and understanding on the real value of social enterprises.
Jargon-free, the book delivers a lively and clear introduction as to what social enterprises are, how they can change individual lives and, by challenging assumptions, may even offer new directions for the future of capitalism. It is a unique guide for aspiring practitioners, students, researchers and public sector staff.
This original and topical book tells the untold stories of migrants’ experiences of, and responses to, financial exclusion in London. Breaking important new ground, it offers an insight into migrants’ lives which is often overlooked, yet is increasingly vital for their broader integration into advanced financialised societies.
Adopting a holistic focus, Migrants and their Money investigates migrants’ complex financial lives which extend far beyond remittance sending, exploring their banking, saving, credit and debt related practices. It highlights how migrants negotiate the complex financial landscape they encounter and the diverse formal and informal ways in which they manage their money in the financial capital of the world. Drawing upon a rich evidence base, this book will be of particular interest to academics, local authorities, policy makers and the financial services industry.
