Reclaiming the third sector: perspectives from the grass roots

1. Reclaiming the third sector:perspectives from the grass roots Another sector is possible We want our sector back! Talk by Matthew Scott (Community Sector Coalition)

2. Hand-Washing Technique Public Service Delivery Contract Guidelines i.m. small autonomous community organisations • Palm to palm • Right palm over left dorsum and left palm over right dorsum • Palm to palm fingers interlaced • Backs of fingers to opposing palms with fingers interlocked • Rotational rubbing of right thumb clasped in left palm and vice versa • Rotational rubbing, backwards and forwards with clasped fingers of right hand in left palm and vice versa Do not forget to include wrists and dry well using paper towels

3. Reclaiming the third sector:perspectives from the grass roots The brief: Q: How significant is the challenge to the dominant model of Third Sector collaboration with the State? (service delivery) A: As an idea, crucial; as a mobilisation, very mixed Q: What are the alternatives to the contract/corporate culture? A: Dissent; In & Against; tempered radicalism; principled compromise Q: What are the models of grassroots independent organisations? A: Spectrum from the Compact to the NCIAQ: What might be the effects of the recession on small organisations? A: Increase in demand; financially almost irrelevant Q: What has the Community Sector Coalition done on this A: Collective action & Manifesto & campaigns; cultural change

4. If you do not act you will be acted upon The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organised habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power… In almost every act of our daily lives.. . In our social conduct and our ethical thinking, we are dominated by the relatively small number of persons… who pull the wires which control the public mind (Edward Bernays)

5. Reclaiming the third sector:perspectives from the grass roots • Hegemony and countervailing power • Agency and social force • Cliques and cabals (M. Mead) • Difference and deference • Political economy and NPM (New Public Management) • An analysis of power (Community Development) • Control, Contract, Con trick • Equity, Efficiency, Economy

6. Reclaiming the third sector:perspectives from the grass roots Terminology: • Third sector • Civil society • Voluntary & Community Sector • Social economy • Activist sector The voluntary sector is a lost terminology – there are new and better ways of delivering it ( A Greenwich Councillor Jan 2009)

7. Reclaiming the third sector:perspectives from the grass roots • 865,000 Civil Society Organisations (UK NCVO Anorak) • 600,000 Informal community organisations • % voluntary sector paid workforce: female 69%, male 31% • 55% of charities have income under £10,000 • 86% have income under £100,000 • The largest 350 charities have incomes over £10,000,000 • 750 charities control 50% of all assets

8. Reclaiming the third sector:perspectives from the grass roots • Crucially there are gaps in our knowledge: unincorporated and unregistered organisations… are the obvious example, and as such our work clearly underestimates the scope and cumulative size of civil society organisations (anorak page 7) • (but it is a whole lot more than that… ) • Money follows measurement • Research in never a neutral tool

9. Reclaiming the third sector:perspectives from the grass roots ‘Not every organisation has grown. NCVO 2007 UK Voluntary Sector Almanac highlights the rapid growth of many large charities and the decline in income of many small or medium sized charities’ • Future Role of 3rd Sector in Economic and Social Regeneration (Treasury & Cabinet Office) 2007 – paragraph 1.1 ‘Despite improvements, public satisfaction with local government fell by 10% between 2000/01 and 2003/04’ • Local Government White Paper – Strong and Prosperous Communities (2007) Chapter 6 paragraph 6.2

10. Reclaiming the third sector:perspectives from the grass roots • The Voluntary sector may be a lost cause – the triumph of contractors over accountability • ChangeUp:Voluntary Sector Goes to Boot Camp • Partnerships – tripartite models and the three legged stool (broken) • Widdicombe ’86 and the New Deal for Local Authorities aka Community Empowerment (myth) • Community Development and Capacity Building • Poisonous pedagogy and false charity

11. Key themes • Creative uses of power – let’s change the rules • The culture of total institutions • The politics of brutalism • Double consciousness • Cohesion and Efficiencies • Reclaim the State (Wainwright, Benn, Shaw) or • Councils as a failed and toxic brand • Death of the social (civil and civic) • Contagious ideas

12. Reclaiming the third sector:perspectives from the grass roots Community Sector Coalition soap box • Growing inequalities within the sector • Independence • Collective action • Deeper democracy • Climate Change We have a research interest and are up for collaboration

13. Who’s doing what to whom and why? • We are involved in ‘ideas’ either passively reproducing them or thinking and acting critically to transform social structures and relations of power • A belief in human agency - the genius of local people to change the world