The Big Society and the impact upon (in)equality. Sue Robson Researcher and feminist community activist

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1 The Big Society and the impact upon (in)equality Sue Robson Researcher and feminist community activist

2 Outline of presentation Historical and policy context Aspects of inequality in notions of the Big Society Community Engagement Opening up public services Social action Conclusions What can we do?

3 Legacy of New Labour Social inclusion & cohesion agenda resulted in further marginalisation Co-option of language of empowerment Narrowing of spaces for politically engaged activism Undermining of equality and social justice movements Managerialism and bureaucracy to support for a fiscal agenda

4 Bureaucratic procedures and processes leave no space to informally discuss and explore issues - a process many women prefer to utilise when discussing social issues. I felt invisible. It felt very much like being at a play.

5 There is no dichotomy between funding specialist services and cohesion; equality is necessary for cohesion to be achieved. Lord Justice Moses, High Court, 18th July 2008

6 Localism Act 2010 Less prescriptive policy framework Less bureaucracy Devolving power to local communities powerful new incentives for local people... Local control over public finance Open public services to broader range of suppliers Open Government finance to public scrutiny

7 Cutting red tape Giving professionals more freedom to open the way for innovation, diversity and responsiveness Local people monitoring LAs and holding them to account Closure of the Audit Commission along with requirement for Comprehensive Area Assessment

8 Equality Act 2010 Dilution of previous legislation EIAs no longer a requirement Socio-economic duty dropped Mandatory pay audit dropped Fairness Dismisses impact of social and economic roles and relationships which structure our lives and lead to lasting and embedded patterns of disadvantage

9 The Big Society New relationships between the individual and the state a new focus on empowering individuals, families and communities to take control of their lives Assumption that if government withdraws a service - local communities will organise to provide it

10 Big Unfair Society? Office for Civil Society (OCS) provide strategic partnership funding to 17 charities in 2011/12, none of these is an equalities group Loss of community development workers and resources Questions over the viability of the localism and Big Society agenda

11 In-equality and the Big Society Absence of frameworks for equality Not starting with level playing field People who have least will benefit least Endemic inequalities in society at a macro and micro level

12 Three pillars Community empowerment Opening up public service Social action

13 Community empowerment Representation and capacity to use routes to influence becoming more difficult for marginalised groups Localism agenda makes little allowance for groups who lack the skills and resources to take advantage of the new freedoms on offer that these freedoms are more likely to be taken up by people from relatively wellprivileged backgrounds rather than by those from less privileged backgrounds.

14 Opening up public services Impact of cuts widening inequalities and even harsher impact upon certain groups Culture self-help + cuts leading to increased burden of domesticity and care Front line services take priority over research and campaigning Decline of specialist services

15 What s new? In the most impoverished neighbourhoods it is primarily mothers who have sustained new systems of self-help and are the essential glue which is holding these hard-pressed communities together. Beatrix Campbell (1995)

16 "In many ways, the women's sector is a model of the Big Society we want to build" Teresa May, Women s Aid Conference

17 Health of women s sector 60% have decreased income in 2011/12 25% are not sure they will be here in a year s time 50% spend less time networking and 30% less campaigning Lack of support from government coupled with impact of recession & CSR

18 Social action Encouraging and enabling people to play a more active part in society National Citizen Service Community Organisers and Community First

19 Community organising Radical rhetoric of the CO model is perceived as a lifeline in a sea of despair A powerful new force to fight for long overdue social justice? CO being harnessed to support a conservative model of community development

20 Empower or oppress? Failure to incorporate the personal in its analysis of the political No analysis how power works at a micro level Bypasses possibilities for identifying its impact upon interpersonal relationships Marginalisation and silencing of concerns Ignoring critical education traditions in CD and leaving hegemony un-tethered

21 Hegemony? Justifying common sense ideas behind policy Perpetuating associated stereotypes and constructs Gaining consent for and legitimating forms of domination Permeating the lives and minds of individuals through the institutions of civil society

22 Big Broken Society? "Irresponsibility. Selfishness. Behaving as if your choices have no consequences. Children without fathers. Schools without discipline. Reward without effort. Crime without punishment. Rights without responsibilities. Communities without control. Some of the worst aspects of human nature tolerated, indulged Cameron, 15 th Aug 2011

23 They know no family role models, for most live in homes in which the father is unemployed, or from which he has decamped. They are illiterate and innumerate.. They respond only to instinctive animal impulses to eat and drink, have sex, seize or destroy the accessible property of others. Max Hastings, August 2008

24 Conclusion Big Society and CO are devoid of references to structures of power New Labour weakened social justice movements and narrowed spaces for dissent Viability of localism & Big Society amid cuts? Limited or no monitoring of inequalities Un-tethered hegemonic processes

25 What can be done? A structural analysis of power and inequality Counter hegemony Occupy and open up spaces for critical dialogue starting with people s daily lives how power and structures of oppression reach into every existence and interaction Revival of social justice movements & politics of identity

26 Work in progress Voice4Change and Women s Resource Centre commissioned bu OCS to advise on challenges that inequalities present to the Big Society agenda and how to address them. Contact Rebecca Veazey at WRC rebecca@wrc.org.uk

27 Over to you Comments and questions