19 TWO The changing policy environment for voluntary action from 1979 Introduction Mass Observation (MO) was originally set up in 1937, becoming established during the Second World War, a period which witnessed a substantial extension of state intervention in the provision of welfare services. MO’s work contributed greatly to the understanding of public attitudes during the period of wartime planning for the welfare state. For several subsequent decades a broadly-shared consensus on welfare held sway, associated with the primacy of public financing and
Action Research in Social Policy Ray Lees It is largely within the last few years that the idea of an action research approach to social problems has received any great attention in academic circles in Britain. With the exception of the Bristol Social Project in the mid-fifties,1 major involvement came only with the setting up of the Education Priority Area (EPA) projects in 1968, followed in 1969 onwards by the Community Development Project (CDP) programme; each of these enterprises being described in initial documents as a new and different kind of venture in
Quality and ethics in systemic action research NINE Systemic action research in policy and politics Given that this book was not intended to be primarily methodological, it is important to place the issues that it raises in the context of policy and politics. With this in mind I want to conclude succinctly with some implications for organisations and for public participation. In this chapter I highlight the importance of the following: • building emergence into organisational decision-making processes • generating a different sort of evidence • rethinking
policy entrepreneurs do is a good example of the risks of the individualisation of agency. In fact, if we attribute all possible activities to policy entrepreneurs, it is difficult to identify the added specific value of these ‘entrepreneurial’ actions ( Cohen, 2012 ). Hence, the risk of conceptual overstretching is very high. In this article, we propose shifting attention from ‘policy entrepreneurs’ as individual actors to ‘policy entrepreneurship’ as a pattern of action comprising specific activities ( Ackrill and Kay, 2011: 74 ) related to a specific task
61 FOUR Knowledge, policy and coordinated action: mental health in Europe Richard Freeman and Steve Sturdy Introduction Between 12 and 15 January 2005, a World Health Organization (WHO) Ministerial Conference on Mental Health in Europe took place in Helsinki, attended by over 450 delegates and observers. Approximately half of the 52 member states of WHO Europe were represented by their respective health ministers; the others by ministerial delegates. Most country delegations also included psychiatrists and departmental heads with responsibility for mental
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The COVID-19 pandemic transformed the landscape of voluntary action. Some volunteering projects had to be paused, while others were delivered in different ways, but across all four UK nations large numbers of people began volunteering for the first time.
This book provides an overview of the constraints and opportunities of mobilising voluntary action across the four UK jurisdictions during the pandemic. Sector experts and academics examine the divergent voluntary action policy frameworks adopted, the state and non-state supported volunteer responses, the changes in the profile of volunteers and the plans to sustain their involvement.
This book addresses the urgent policy and practice need for evidence-based considerations to support the recovery from the pandemic and to prepare for future emergencies.
201 NINE International policy changes and mainstreaming women’s actions in communities Introduction Women have focused on changing policy in different countries through local, national and international initiatives, the latter endorsed by the United Nations since the 1970s. The first world summit on women occurred in Mexico in 1975 and gave rise to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1979. Further summits and many actions later, full equality for women remains a goal to be achieved globally. Key
Neoliberal-driven austerity has changed the role of the state, public service provision and citizenship. Thriving in today’s society is a challenge for communities around the world as governments increasingly promote privatisation, centralised control, individual responsibility and battle with the impacts of Covid19.
Co-authored by practitioners and academics and based on case studies of collaborations between civil society and the civic university, this book uses the North East of England as a lens to explore how different communities have responded to changing circumstances. The case studies present examples of actions aiming to create hope and inspiration for communities in challenging times.
There are great expectations of voluntary action in contemporary Britain but limited in-depth insight into the level, distribution and understanding of what constitutes voluntary activity. Drawing on extensive survey data and written accounts of citizen engagement, this book charts change and continuity in voluntary activity since 1981.
How voluntary action has been defined and measured is considered alongside individuals’ accounts of their participation and engagement in volunteering over their lifecourses. Addressing fundamental questions such as whether the public are cynical about or receptive to calls for greater voluntary action, the book considers whether respective government expectations of volunteering can really be fulfilled. Is Britain really a “shared society”, or a “big society”, and what is the scope for expansion of voluntary effort?
This pioneering study combines rich, qualitative material from the Mass Observation Archive between 1981 and 2012, and data from many longitudinal and cross-sectional social surveys.
Part of the Third Sector Research Series, this book is informed by research undertaken at the Third Sector Research Centre, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and Barrow Cadbury Trust.
The Global Agenda for Social Justice provides accessible insights into some of the world’s most pressing social problems and proposes practicable international public policy responses to those problems.
Written by a highly respected team of authors brought together by the Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP), chapters examine topics such as education, violence, discrimination, substance abuse, public health, and environment. The volume provides recommendations for action by governing officials, policy makers, and the public around key issues of social justice.
The book will be of interest to scholars, practitioners, advocates, journalists, and students interested in public sociology, the study of social problems, and the pursuit of social justice.
