Care, Crisis and Activism: The Politics of Everyday Life

Description

What kinds of care are being offered or withdrawn by the welfare state?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? Shedding new light on austerity and neoliberal welfare reform in the UK, this vital book considers local action and activism within contexts of crisis, including the COVID-19 pandemic. Presenting compelling 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. Front Cover Care, Crisis and Activism: The Politics of Everyday Life Copyright information Table of contents List of figures Acknowledgments Introduction: sticking plasters and cotton wool Approaching a politics of everyday life Methodological background: researching crises Introducing case studies and methods 1 Care, austerity and the politics of everyday lives Introduction Care and inequalities The state, gender and care Care, the welfare state and austerity Conclusion 2 Citizenship and community in times of crisis Introduction Community, local action and the welfare state: the third way Local action and austerity governance Rethinking citizenship and the politics of everyday life Vulnerability and storytelling Emotions, politics and activism Conclusion 3 Journeys into and through local activism under austerity Introduction Approaching women and community action “I want to start exploring my life”: trauma and empowerment among migrant women activists “I always say the resident’s association saved my life”: neighbourhood action in Stoke-on-Trent Neighbourhood action under austerity “You automatically think, ‘how would I cope with that?’” Empathy and solidarity in a community arts project Conclusion 4 Austerity politics and infrastructures of care: Children’s Centre closures and activism Introduction Sure Start Children’s Centres: policy discourses and the politics of care Researching the politics of closures Shifting rationalities of care Relational spaces of friendships Spaces of recognition and safety Conclusion 5 Small stories and political change: local activism across time and space Introduction Approaching the politics of storytelling Children’s Centre activism: background Representing care within the spaces of Children’s Centre activism Storytelling in meetings Storytelling beyond the local Evaluating stories in court Conclusion 6 Provisioning in times of crisis Introduction Home space and atmospheres of crisis New infrastructures of local care? The everyday practices and caring labour of mutual aid Conclusion Conclusions: a politics of everyday life? Towards a politics of everyday life Reflecting on methods: listening to the voice of local activists Local activism and a politics of care: routes to citizenship and empowerment? Community and the atmospheres and spaces of local action Local action, the place of the state and infrastructures of care Appendix: overview of research projects References Index Back Cover