Working in law’s borderlands: translation and the work of an advice office

Increasing ly people in the UK are turning to voluntary sector advice organisations for help and support in dealing with everyday problems . Here w e argue that advice organisations, who work in the borderlands of law , are nevertheless key players in legal arenas , focusin g on local Citizens Advice offices supporting clients with employment problems. We look at the making of advisers as border- workers through programmes which turn volunteers into employment advisers; and the paid advisers who inhabit spaces on the edges of the profession. We examine the social practices of these advisers, the ways in which law -work becomes translation and advice -work becomes a process of co -production between adviser and client. In concluding, we consider how far into the legal arena it is p ossible to go with limited resources ; and what happens when translating the technicalities of law no longer works. Translation comes to mean advisers turning to their activist -selves and adopting political tactics

Employment Advice Need and Provision at the Dungannon Citizens Advice Bureau

Researchers from the universities of Bristol and Strathclyde have been carrying out research to find out about the barriers to justice experienced by people who try to resolve employment problems. The study, funded by the European Research Council, focuses particularly on people who cannot afford to seek help from a solicitor. As such, we have been working with Citizens Advice to access study participants. The South Tyrone and Mid Ulster Citizens Advice Bureau is one of seven bureaux participating in the research. The bureau operates from 2 main offices, known as Dungannon CAB and Cookstown CAB and provides services across the Dungannon, Cookstown and Magherafelt Council areas

Governing and Governance: A Social Housing Case Study

This research project concerns the role of members of governing boards of formerly public assets, where these assets are transferred to a private or quasi-public organisation. Members of these governing boards, although drawn from particular constituencies, are meant to be neutral and experts. We use a case study approach and a qualitative methodology. The case study concerns the governing board of a housing association, which was set up to take on the management of properties formerly managed by a local authority (referred to as a 'large-scale voluntary transfer'). The research notes tensions in the notion of neutrality and explores what counts as 'expertise'.governance; neutral; expertise; housing; representatives; transfer

Assembling Advice: Ethnographic Explorations of the Changing Relationship Between Voluntary Advice Services and the Welfare State

Voluntary sector advice agencies play, for many in the UK, a key role in accessing and understanding public services. As such, whilst fiercely ‘independent’, their relationship to the welfare state is a complex and conflicted one. Presenting data from participant observation, interviews and focus groups with advisers and managers within the Citizens Advice Service, this paper explores this relationship by focusing on two particular areas of the service; the voluntary provision of advice, and the different funding streams that enable this provision. The paper draws upon assemblage theory, focusing as it does upon elements of an organisation in their ongoing practices and relationships; a processual approach that allows us to reflect upon the broader implications of our ethnographic data. Whilst this approach was motivated by our interest in how the Citizens Advice service endures, we conclude by reflecting upon the ‘fragile futures’ of advice in the context of aggressive budget cuts and the welfare reform agenda

Assembling Advice: Ethnographic Explorations of the Changing Relationship Between Voluntary Advice Services and the Welfare State

Voluntary sector advice agencies play, for many in the UK, a key role in accessing and understanding public services. As such, whilst fiercely ‘independent’, their relationship to the welfare state is a complex and conflicted one. Presenting data from participant observation, interviews and focus groups with advisers and managers within the Citizens Advice Service, this paper explores this relationship by focusing on two particular areas of the service; the voluntary provision of advice, and the different funding streams that enable this provision. The paper draws upon assemblage theory, focusing as it does upon elements of an organisation in their ongoing practices and relationships; a processual approach that allows us to reflect upon the broader implications of our ethnographic data. Whilst this approach was motivated by our interest in how the Citizens Advice service endures, we conclude by reflecting upon the ‘fragile futures’ of advice in the context of aggressive budget cuts and the welfare reform agenda