From Consensus to Dissensus: The Politics of Anti-austerity Activism in London and Its Relationship to Voluntary Organizations

ABSTRACT

This article examines how activism against austerity is organized and manifested in London. Given that anti-austerity activists are addressing issues related to social welfare, we examine whether there are alliances between the activists and voluntary organizations (VOs) that are working in that field. Examining the challenges involved in creating and sustaining alliances, we argue that the regulatory context alone is an insufficient explanation as to why activist–VO alliances are difficult to establish and maintain. We contend that more significantly, it is VOs’ and activists’ divergent and at times irreconcilable stances, which we refer to as the consensus and dissensus stances, respectively, which impede activist–VO alliances, beyond episodic interactions, from developing.

KEYWORDS:

• Austerity
• activism
• civil society
• occupy
• England

Acknowledgement

The views expressed are their own and do not in any way represent the views or the official position or policy of the Robert Bosch Stiftung.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Armine Ishkanian is an Associate Professor in the Department of Social Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Irum S. Ali is a London-based writer and project manager.

ORCID

Armine Ishkanian http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6449-8966

Notes

1. Here, we use the terms ‘NGO’ and ‘VO’ to refer to formal civil society organizations that are registered, have some professional staff, and receive funding from a wide set of donors, including from statutory bodies, international aid agencies, foundations, and the public. In the UK context, ‘NGO’ commonly refers to organizations that work in international development, whereas ‘VO’ is used to refer to organizations that work domestically.

2. BOND is the umbrella body for organizations working in international development. NCVO is the National Council for Voluntary Organizations.

3. We use pseudonyms to refer to respondents. See Appendix for further details about the respondents.

4. A4E is the former name of PeoplePlus, which is a UK-based for-profit welfare-to-work company.

5. The commons or commoning are the belief that ‘some forms of wealth belong to all of us, and that these community resources must be actively protected and managed for the good of all.’ See more at http://www.onthecommons.org/about-commons

6. Freecycling is when a person passes an unwanted item at no cost to another person.

7. Workfare refers to a range of government programmes under which unemployed people are required to volunteer for up to six months or face losing their benefits.

Additional information

Funding

This research was made possible through a grant from the Robert Bosch Stiftung [grant # 12.5.2400.0354.0].