The production and reproduction of inequality in the UK in times of austerity

Inequality appears to be back on the intellectual and political agenda. This paper provides a commentary on this renewed interest, drawing on an empirical discussion of inequality in the UK. The paper argues that inequality should be seen as produced in the inherently unequal social relations of production, drawing attention to the role of social struggle in shaping dynamics of inequality. However, inequality is not just produced in dynamic class struggle in the formal economy, but also through the social reproduction of labour power on a day-to-day and inter-generational basis. As such, inequalities of household resources at any point in time may be reproductive of greater future inequality. It is argued that inequality has risen in the UK over recent decades because of changes in the social relations of production in the formal economy and social reproduction in the domestic sector, both of which have witnessed significant state interventions that have increased structural inequalities. It is argued that, absent of significant change, the underpinning structural dynamics in the UK will lead to further increases in inequality over the short and longer-term. Given this, we might expect to see an already emergent ‘New Politics of Inequality’ intensifying in the coming decades.n/

Making, contesting and governing the local: women’s labour and the local state

This paper explores how women’s activism contributed to the generation of local capacities and resources (‘making’ the local); how women attempted to subvert or co-opt emerging patterns of local governance (‘contesting’ the local); and engaged with strategies of governing and managing local communities (‘governing’ the local). In elaborating these themes the paper draws on empirical research that suggests how these practices succeeded each other within different political-governmental regimes, but also how they were entangled in individual working lives. The paper then draws on the analysis to show how it might speak to the present regime of cuts, retrenchment and the closure of many of the spaces of power that previous generations of women had forged

The alchemy of austerity

In this article, we examine the return of austerity as a global and national economic and political strategy. We consider debates about the economic viability of fiscal austerity and about its implications for the politics of welfare. We widen the focus of politics to explore the relationship between austerity and unrest, before turning to the social imaginaries through which austerity is being mobilised in the UK (the Big Economy, the Big Society and the Broken Society). We conclude with some reflections on rethinking the relationships the economy, politics and society through the idea of moral economie

Governing the present: activism, neoliberalism and the problem of power and consent

This paper begins by tracing some of the different standpoints from which a critical engagement with ‘governance’ has been developed, then goes on to assess the potential contribution of some strands of feminist cultural and political theory. Such theory, used to frame the findings of a particular research project, offers a challenge to power-resistance models of politics, showing instead how social movement activism is both implicated in, and stands in opposition to, transformative governing projects. The paper shows how this form of analysis might approach the understanding of current struggles for power and consent, drawing on notions of hegemonic projects and conjunctural analysis. The paper ends by arguing against the forms of ‘strong theory’ that characterizes much contemporary analysis of neoliberal governance, arguing instead for a combination of ‘critique’ and ‘criticality’ within – and beyond – the academy