Publisher Description

Shedding new light on austerity and neoliberal welfare reform in the UK, this book considers local action and activism within contexts of crisis, including the COVID-19 pandemic. What kinds of care are being offered or withdrawn by the welfare state? What does this mean for the caring practices and interventions of local activists? Presenting case studies of local action, from protesting cuts to children's services, to local food provisioning and support for migrant women, this book makes visible often unseen practices of activism. It shows how the creativity and persistence of such local practices can be seen as enacting wider visions of how care should be provided by society.

Author Biography

Eleanor Jupp is Senior Lecturer in Social Policy at the University of Kent.

Table of Contents

Introduction: sticking plasters and cotton wool1. Care, austerity and the politics of everyday lives2. Citizenship and community in times of crisis3. Journeys into and through local activism under austerity4. Austerity politics and infrastructures of care: Children's Centre closures and activism5. Small stories and political change: local activism across time and space6. Provisioning in times of crisis7. Conclusions: a politics of everyday life?

Review

"Jupp skilfully connects micro-, meso- and macro-levels through her investigation of activists' involvement in various forms of organising (not necessarily organisations) in a welfare state shaped by austerity. Her nuanced analysis addresses the affordances and ambivalences of community activism." The Sociological Review
"Eleanor Jupp explores the local and less visible forms of activism that have arisen as women have sought to fill the vacuum left by a retreating state. Her analysis will inspire and inform research on gender, welfare and austerity." Julie MacLeavy, University of Bristol
"Eleanor Jupp's research traces the emergence of local creativity and activism in the face of current crises of care. These offer ways of transcending the perverse conjunction of austerity and COVID-19 in the UK." Janet Newman, Open University

Long Description

Shedding new light on austerity and neoliberal welfare reform in the UK, this book considers local action and activism within contexts of crisis, including the COVID-19 pandemic. What kinds of care are being offered or withdrawn by the welfare state? What does this mean for the caring practices and interventions of local activists? Presenting case studies of local action, from protesting cuts to children's services, to local food provisioning and support for migrant women, this book makes visible often unseen practices of activism. It shows how the creativity and persistence of such local practices can be seen as enacting wider visions of how care should be provided by society.

Review Quote

"Jupp skilfully connects micro-, meso- and macro-levels through her investigation of activists' involvement in various forms of organising (not necessarily organisations) in a welfare state shaped by austerity. Her nuanced analysis addresses the affordances and ambivalences of community activism." The Sociological Review

Feature

Amid a global pandemic, this book's focus on local action and activism within contexts of crisis is much needed and timely. It offers new insights into austerity and neoliberal welfare reform in the UK and considers how care should be provided by society.Presenting case studies of local action from protests against austerity cuts to children's services, to food provisioning and support for migrant women, this book reveals often unseen practices of activism.

Details