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Background to this chapter To set this book in a wider context, in this chapter the author surveys alternative discourses. UK contributions on social enterprise and the third sector have been highly selective in their references to and reliance on other countries’ policy regimes. As an example, though North American discourses are often quoted, through their operation in a
Social enterprise and third sector activity have mushroomed into a prolific area of academic research and discourse over the past 20 years, with many claiming their origins rooted in Blair, New Labour and Giddens’ ‘Third Way’. But many academic contributions lack experience of policy implementation and do not access the wealth of grey, legacy and public policy literature from earlier periods which supports different interpretations. Since most make few references to developments during the 1970s and 1980s, their narrow focus on New Labour from 1997 onwards not only neglects real antecedents, but miscasts the role of social enterprise.
Adopting a Critical Realist approach, the author had access to previously unused hardcopy documents from archives and collections and interviewed key players and key actors between 1998 and 2002, when major social enterprise and third sector policy changes occurred.
During a key political period from 1998 to 2002, Blair’s New Labour governments forced through a major conceptual shift for social enterprise, co-operative and third sector activity. Many structures, formed as community responses to massive deindustrialisation in the 1970s and 1980s, were repositioned to bid against the private sector to obtain contracts for delivery of low-cost public services.
Other UK academic contributions draw parallels with North American individual social entrepreneurs or rely excessively on interpretations from L’Emergence de l’Entreprise Sociale en Europe (EMES) Research Network, which prioritises a marketised version of “work integration social enterprises” (WISEs).
So the restoration of political and economic democracy has been denied to many local communities.
Well-Connected” to Be Held to Account ’, Third Sector , 24 May , www.thirdsector.co.uk/sexual-harassers-top-aid-sector-too-well-connected-held-account/fundraising/article/1585608 (accessed 1 October 2020 ). Daccord , Y. ( 2018 ), ‘ Taking Action to Prevent and Address Staff Sexual Misconduct
enterprise and much of the third sector now feature as platforms for its incursion into ever wider spheres of public life. As a central part of this process, especially for the Labour Party, a previous emphasis on co-operatives and locally controlled democratic organisations is now largely jettisoned. Had their previous community control been retained, their transformation for this new purpose would not have been possible
Introduction As shown throughout this book, the emergence of social enterprise as a service delivery platform in a public services marketplace has been endorsed and encouraged by many UK academic contributions. Many of these seem to have approached the third sector through their academic endeavours rather than through any practice and implementation experience. Using sources
first sector; the private or second sector, meaning industry and commerce; and the voluntary, non-governmental or not-for-profit third sector, now often referred to as civil society. It considers the changing identities and stereotypes of each, their interconnectedness and their relationships. Where is higher education located, and how is engagement seen within such a categorisation? The third sector has been of rising importance in recent years, in a context of more global complexity, including the GFC and the ecological crisis discussed in the first chapter. As the
This book has sought to show that though third sector and social enterprise historical antecedents are causal, they have been lost. Labour and Co-operative Movement political support has been replaced by a depoliticised sector which functions increasingly as a player in a competitive market for the delivery of public services. This has limited the development potential for
PASCAL are INGO initiatives inhabiting the politica–economic and philosophical setting sketched above. They are committed to seeking new forms 155 MUP_Osborne_Final.indd 155 30/07/2013 15:50 learning and partnership processes of governance for new times in a significantly altered world. The changing social structure and governance outlined in Chapter 2 includes a diminished state sector which is nevertheless often still growing in scale and reach of activity as well as into the international sphere. It includes a more empowered third sector: voluntary, civil society
New Labour approach – an overview While Ferlie et al. in their overview of New Public Management describe “quasi markets” and “Next Steps agencies” in the 1980s and early 1990s ( Ferlie et al. 1996 , chapter 1), New Labour policies for social enterprise and third sector delivery of public services had not yet arrived. However, as shown above, and later in this chapter, some
and with other stakeholders in the private and third sectors. Managing the local region The internal dimension – managing the regional authority to engage better The PURE project like earlier OECD studies of regional development and HEIs worked more with administrators than with elected politicians and their leaders in the region. Occasionally a local or national minister would take part in an event or meet the visiting consultative group; but the work was seen as a matter for planners and administrators rather than a major policy initiative. This reflects the low