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    Delivering on the Big Society? Tensions in hosting community organisers

    Fisher, JC, Lawthom, R and Kagan, C ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6015-6179 (2016) Delivering on the Big Society? Tensions in hosting community organisers. Local Economy, 31 (4). pp. 502-517. ISSN 0269-0942

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    Abstract

    The Big Society, including the community organising programme, was central to the UK Prime Minister, David Cameron’s vision for a redefined relationship between state and society. Promising the devolvement of power to neighbourhoods and citizens – Community organising was funded by the Cabinet Office in 2011. It was conceived of as a means of developing active engagement of communities and individuals to resolve the issues within deprived neighbourhoods. Manchester Metropolitan University hosted one of the first cohorts of community organisers working with a national organisation, Locality. This article provides a case study of a university-community partnership centred on community organising. Drawing on narratives, we consider the tensions inherent in university hosting of community organisers and the framing of the project as community organising as distinct from other forms of community practice.

    Item Type: Article
    Peer-reviewed: Yes
    Date Deposited: 18 May 2016 10:15
    Publisher: SAGE Publications
    Additional Information: This is an Author Final Copy of a paper accepted for publication in Local Economy, published by Sage, copyright The Authors.
    Divisions: Faculties > Health and Education
    Research Centres > Health, Psychology and Communities
    Subject terms: Big Society, community, community organising, university, Social Sciences, Economics, Business & Economics, Big Society, community, community organiser, university, SENSEMAKING, PARTNERSHIP, ENGAGEMENT, AUSTERITY, 1205 Urban and Regional Planning, 1402 Applied Economics, 1604 Human Geography, Urban & Regional Planning
    URI: https://e-space.mmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/609615
    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0269094216650142
    ISSN 0269-0942
    e-ISSN 1470-9325

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