The Big Society: return of the repressed or

business as usual?Janet Newman

j.e.newman@open.ac.uk

www.janetnewman.org

Big Society Bollocks

Key issues

• Assumptions about the state

• Pooling or dividing responsibilities

• Unequal in its effects

• Questions of time

• Impact of cuts

Analytical openers

• Political dead end?

Analytical openers

• Political dead end?

• Empty signifier?

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Analytical openers

• Political dead end?

• Empty signifier?

• Return of the repressed?

Analytical openers

• Political dead end?

• Empty signifier?

• Return of the repressed?

• Business as usual?

The Big Society

• Draws on ambiguities in New Labour project

• New articulations – fairness, responsibility, freedom, voluntary

• Perverse alignments with ‘counter’ projects and emergent discourses

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‘Nudge’

Changing the choice architecture

Draws on behavioural economics

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ABCD

‘a methodology that seeks to uncover and utilise the strengths within communities as a means for sustainable development’ (Ketzman and McKnight)

- emphasis on promoting the resilience of individuals and communities rather than state dependence

- IDEA report ‘A Glass half full’ adapts ABCD to promote health and well being ‘A glass half full’

ABCD

• Needs based diagnoses

• Focus on deficiencies

• Stigmatising

• Generates dependence

• Clientalism

ABCD

• Needs based diagnoses

• Focus on deficiencies

• Stigmatising

• Generates dependence

• Clientalism

• Asset based mapping

• Focus on strengths

• Confidence building

• Mobilising

• Active citizenship

Civic streets: principles

• Time is money

• Government needs to get out of the way

• Democracy works

• Help people to help themselves

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WARM

• WARM is a new tool to help communities understand their underlying needs and capacities. It brings together a wide range of indicators to measure wellbeing (how people feel about themselves and their communities) and resilience (the capacity of people and communities to bounce back after shock or in the face of adversity). WARM captures both a community’s assets, including levels of social capital, good schools and public services, or high educational achievement; as well as vulnerabilities, including levels of depression and unemployment. Unlike conventional ‘deficit’ models which assess what is needed in a community and focus solely on what is wrong (factors like crime or homelessness), WARM also captures what is going well. The focus is on subjective as well as objective data. WARM combines measurements of social capital – assessing the strength of local relationships - with how people feel: whether they belong in an area, psychological wellbeing. It also captures the availability of services and quality of infrastructure.

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Focus on capabilities

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Focus on character

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In common?

• Orientation to ‘wicked issues’

• Emphasis on capacity building• • Emphasis on reducing dependence, mobilising self

governance

• Compatible with reduced role and reach of state

In common?

• Beyond politics?

In common?

• Beyond politics?

• Fit with neo-liberalism?

In common?

• Beyond politics?

• Fit with neo-liberalism?

• Ambiguous roles for voluntary sector

Empowering, capacity building

Partnering, brokering, influencing

Delivering, managing services

Subject to regulation, compliance

enabling

Output/outcome legitimacy

providing

Process legitimacy

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Evaluation questions

• What criteria?

• Funders?

• Perspectives?

social science questions

• Publics - processes of emergence, summonings?

• Politics – success and failure of BS as a hegemonic projects?

• Power – new spaces and possibilities of agency?

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SourcesNewman, J and Clarke, J Publics, Politics and Power. Sage, 2009

Newman, J and Tonkens, E, Summoning the active citizen: responsibility, choice and participation. U.Amsterdam Press, 2010

Clarke, J and Newman, J forthcoming in Journal of Education Policy.

Clarke, J et al: Creating citizen-consumers Sage 2007

Massey, D The Political Struggle Ahead. Soundings 45, summer 2010

Newman, J Remaking Governance Policy Press 2005

Newman, J Modernising Governance Sage 2001

www.open.ac.uk/ccig/publics

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