A Dynamic Civil Society?Studying the third sector in depth over time

Dr. Rob Macmillan

In summary

1. Two moments in civil society…

2. About the ‘Real Times’ study

3. Civil society in motion - what happens next?

4. The story so far

5. Reflections on a dynamic civil society

Two moments in civil society…

‘Larch’• Deprived ex-mining village – housing and community-

based regeneration• Heritage Centre, Youth Club, Village Hall, successful

community shop/café, new social enterprise• An uneven landscape of participation, e.g. ‘Brown hair

turning grey’

‘Birch’•Secure local advice agency growing through local authority funding and additional contracts•Annual surplus to ‘weather the storm’ and for service development•Anticipating possible outsourcing opportunities

The research basis for ‘Real Times’

• The third sector in transition – ‘shaking-out’ and ‘shaking-up’?

• Context, relation and ‘room’

• Taking time seriously – rhythms and change in third sector life

• Snapshots and moving pictures – the promise of seeing things differently

‘Real Times’ in a nutshell…

Overall aim

• To establish, maintain and analyse a qualitative longitudinal sample of third sector organisations, groups and activities

Research structure and timing

• Diverse set of 15 core case studies plus a range of related ‘complementary’ case studies

• April 2010 to August 2013 – now about half way through

Purpose and research questions

• Understanding how third sector activity operates in practice over time

• What happens, what matters, and understanding continuity and change

Four focal points

Fortunes

- What influences the fortunes of TSOs?- How do they judge their fortunes?

Strategies

- How do TSOs regard and negotiate the environments in which they operate?

Challenges

- What challenges do TSOs face? - How do they respond?

Performance

- How is the ‘performance’ of TSOs understood by different stakeholders?- How can we understand their achievements?

A diverse set of case studies

• A large national charity delivering services – anticipating a changing funding and policy environment, and preparing a cutback plan

• A specialist mental health charity – concerned to maintain its distinctive services amidst public spending cuts, the personalisation agenda and new models of intervention

• A new social enterprise – pursuing growth beyond its local community

• A co-operative sports club - trying to sustain initial enthusiasm and impetus

• A local support project for teenage mothers – surviving an internal crisis, preparing for longer term sustainability

• A parish plan action group – seeking to implement ‘quick wins’ in the village

Civil society in motion – what happens next?‘Larch’ (then)

• Deprived ex-mining village – housing and community-based regeneration

• Heritage Centre, Youth Club, Village Hall, successful community shop/café, new social enterprise

• An uneven landscape of participation, e.g. ‘Brown hair turning grey’

‘Larch’ (now-ish)• Unsuccessful funding bids – youth

club closes• Utility bills and winter damage -

Heritage Centre closing down• Infrastructure support• Shop/café and new social

enterprise still developing

‘Birch’ (then)• Secure local advice agency growing

through local authority funding and additional contracts

• Annual surplus to ‘weather the storm’ and for service development

• Anticipating possible outsourcing opportunities

‘Birch’ (now-ish)• LA reviews provision and cuts basic

funding, pending re-commissioning• Birch forced to consider closing

services in hiatus• A debate on tactical responses• Reprieve, redundancies and re-

organising structures and services

The story so far

A picture dominated by cuts for some…

• From anticipatory anxiety (Spring 2010) to the experience of public spending cuts (Spring-Summer 2011)

• Restructuring, redundancies and attention to reputation and regard• Ongoing uncertainty about the scale and scope of cuts, and new policy

agendas

But not for all…

• Organisations planning growth • Re-positioning and the development of new services• Relative insulation from the changing context

Cross-cutting ‘storylines’

• ‘Who’s in charge?’ – governance and leadership

• ‘Us’ and ‘them’ – boundaries, identities and ethos in the third sector

• Exploring and explaining the origin and development of social ventures

• Community buildings as contested spaces of community activity

Reflections on a dynamic civil society

• ‘Shaking up’ and ‘shaking out’

• What influences the ‘room’ for civil society?

• Civil society in motion - what happens next and why?

“You beat your wings all your life, but in the end the wind decides where you go”

Further information

• ‘Real Times’ is being undertaken by a team of five researchers at TSRC:Rob Macmillan, Andri Soteri-Proctor, Simon Teasdale, Rebecca Taylor and

Malin Arvidson

• Macmillan, R (2011) Seeing things differently? The promise of qualitative longitudinal research on the third sector

TSRC Working Paper 56, March 2011

• Forthcoming: First Impressions: introducing the ‘Real Times’ third sector case studies