This edited collection critically explores the funding arrangements governing contemporary community development and how they shape its theory and practice.
International contributions from activists, practitioners and academics consider the evolution of funding in community development and how changes in policy and practice can be understood in relation to the politics of neoliberalism and contemporary efforts to build global democracy from the ‘bottom up’.
Thematically, the collection explores matters such as popular democracy, the shifting contours of the state-market relationship, prospects for democratising the state, the feasibility of community autonomy, the effects of managerialism and hybrid modes of funding such as social finance.
The collection is thus uniquely positioned to stimulate critical debate on both policy and practice within the broad field of community development.
113 five Funding the nHS introduction The third distinctive organisational feature of the NHS comes from the choice policy makers made at the time of its founding in terms of the way it would be financed. The general taxation method of funding health services means that those on higher incomes make a greater financial contribution to the cost of their treatment than those on lower incomes, but with no guarantee of better access or superior treatment. The principle of funding health services from general taxation is therefore redistributionary – the richer
Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed longstanding health and social inequalities in minoritised ethnic communities in England ( Public Health England, 2020 ). The ‘Black Lives Matter’ protests in 2020 also generated a lot of interest in racism and social inequalities. Research on the impact of COVID-19 on minoritised community-led organisations highlighted that nine out of 10 organisations could shut down because of funding challenges ( Murray, 2020 ). In response to public interest and the research findings, funders dedicated emergency funds to
Key messages Participatory budgeting public engagement methods could be used for science funding decisions. Participatory budgeting could address the need for changes in research funding policies. Participatory budgeting for public research funding would further the shift towards participatory governance and public engagement with science. Introduction This debate piece argues that funding decisions about scientific research should be made using participatory budgeting public engagement methods. This would support research translation into
93© The Policy Press · 2008 · ISSN 0962 7898 Unhappy fund? Terry Patterson April 2008 sees the 20th anniversary of the introduction of the discretionary Social Fund. With dissatisfaction levels ‘on the ground’ running notably high in the past two years, this may prove an apposite time to reflect on the recent performance of the Fund, in light of continuing disputes about both policy and performance. Social Fund today The cash-limited, discretionary Social Fund has three parts: Community Care Grants (CCGs), Budgeting Loans (BLs) and Crisis Loans (CLs). The
This book reviews how local social and employment policy fields react to the European Social Fund (ESF) to determine the role of the ESF in local activation policies. Drawing on both sociology and political science literature on welfare state reforms, the author examines what shapes local policy reactions to ESF and what effects these reactions have on change in local policy fields.
Comparing data from 18 local case studies across 6 European countries, and deploying an innovative mixed-method approach, the book presents comparative evidence on everyday challenges in the context of the ESF and discusses how these findings are applicable to other funding schemes.
Introduction The way in which health systems are funded is often based on a series of political decisions which were made in the early development of different nations’ health systems, and yet, through processes of institutional reproduction, have remained remarkably intact today ( Immergut, 1992b ; Wilsford, 1995 ). As health systems absorb such substantial levels of resources, and because access to healthcare is not only recognised as a human right, but is also an international business of enormous scale, methods of healthcare funding in a particular
1 ONE Funding, power and community development: an introduction Fergal Finnegan and Niamh McCrea Introduction Sourcing, managing and sustaining funding is a fundamental and usually pressing concern for community development workers. Many of the most important practical choices facing organisations revolve around funding. It is also a profoundly political topic – any discussion of funding immediately brings up questions of power and purpose, and forces us to examine how varying visions and agendas overlap or conflict. Yet, despite the absolute centrality of
103 SEVEN Funding community organising: diversifying sources, democratising civil society Robert Fisher and Hélène Balazard Introduction Throughout the history of community organising in the United States, funding has been a serious and, until recently, neglected issue (Fisher, 1994). This chapter recognises the variety, complexity and contested politics of community organising, a practice that ranges from consensus-based community building to more conflict-oriented grassroots organising confronting oppression. Our main interest is the need for movement
