Hope Under Neoliberal Austerity: Responses from Civil Society and Civic Universities

This edited book collection explores the role of the public sector, civil society and the civic university during austerity and neoliberalism and the challenges facing communities today. Using the North East of England as a lens and drawing on practical examples of case studies of action, it considers responsibilisation, a diminished public sector, the rise of civil society and the civic university. At the heart of the book is the key question of whether the decline of the state and the rise of civil society is to be celebrated or despaired. Chapters on case studies of action cover key aspects of social policy such as housing, education, young people’s cultural participation and food insecurity. Each case study chapter is jointly written by a university researcher and a case study practitioner and describes new and established examples of collaboration, co-production, resistance and hope that are relevant to advanced economies today. Critical engagement with the civic university mission and critical reflection on the unequal impacts of austerity and Covid-19 on women, young people and frontline workers is provided. The book concludes with the implications for social renewal, social justice and the social contract.