IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/indrel/v54y2023i2p117-131.html

Civil society organisations in and against the state: Advice, advocacy and activism on the margins of the labour market

Author

Listed:
  • Stephen Mustchin
  • Mathew Johnson
  • Marti Lopez‐Andreu

Abstract

This article contributes to our understanding of the complex role of civil society organisations (CSOs) in tackling precariousness through advice, advocacy and activism. It draws on qualitative data gathered primarily from two local CSOs in the north of England that help clients navigate a highly flexible labour market and an increasingly punitive welfare system. The findings reveal that in marginalised communities, CSOs compensate for retreating state services by providing clients with individual advice and advocacy, but there is little evidence of the grassroots activism observed in labour CSOs in North America. We argue that the uneven tradition of community organising across cities in the UK combined with the complex dependencies of service‐oriented CSOs on state resources has restricted their role to that of labour market intermediaries that serve primarily to integrate clients into low‐wage jobs.

Suggested Citation

  • Stephen Mustchin & Mathew Johnson & Marti Lopez‐Andreu, 2023. "Civil society organisations in and against the state: Advice, advocacy and activism on the margins of the labour market," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(2), pages 117-131, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:indrel:v:54:y:2023:i:2:p:117-131
    DOI: 10.1111/irj.12393
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/irj.12393
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/irj.12393?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Brian Abbott & Steve Williams, 2014. "Widening the ‘representation gap'? The implications of the ‘lobbying act’ for worker representation in the UK," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(6), pages 507-523, November.
    2. Jon Burchell & Joanne Cook, 2013. "Sleeping with the Enemy? Strategic Transformations in Business–NGO Relationships Through Stakeholder Dialogue," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 113(3), pages 505-518, March.
    3. Edmund Heery & Carola Frege, 2006. "New Actors in Industrial Relations," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 44(4), pages 601-604, December.
    4. Graham Haughton & Iain Deas & Stephen Hincks & Kevin Ward, 2016. "Mythic Manchester: Devo Manc, the Northern Powerhouse and rebalancing the English economy," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 9(2), pages 355-370.
    5. Steve Williams & Brian Abbott & Edmund Heery, 2017. "Civil Governance in Work and Employment Relations: How Civil Society Organizations Contribute to Systems of Labour Governance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 144(1), pages 103-119, August.
    6. Rebecca Kolins Givan, 2007. "Side by Side We Battle Onward? Representing Workers in Contemporary America," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 45(4), pages 829-855, December.
    7. Janice Fine & Jennifer Gordon, 2010. "Strengthening Labor Standards Enforcement through Partnerships with Workers’ Organizations," Politics & Society, , vol. 38(4), pages 552-585, December.
    8. Nik Theodore & Abel Valenzuela & Edwin Meléndez, 2009. "Worker centers: defending labor standards for migrant workers in the informal economy," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 30(5), pages 422-436, August.
    9. Nik Theodore & Abel Valenzuela & Edwin Meléndez, 2009. "Worker centers: defending labor standards for migrant workers in the informal economy," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 30(5), pages 422-436, August.
    10. M. Anne Visser, 2017. "A floor to exploitation? Social economy organizations at the edge of a restructuring economy," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 31(5), pages 782-799, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mathew Johnson & Eva Herman, 2024. "Out with the old, in with the new? Institutional experimentation and decent work in the UK," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 45(4), pages 1137-1157, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Laura William & Ian Cunningham, 2021. "Evaluating the role of trade unions and civil society organisations in supporting graduate educated disabled workers," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 42(3), pages 648-666, August.
    2. Norma M Rantisi & Mostafa Henaway & Deborah Leslie, 2025. "Interrogating the agency of non-profit labour market intermediaries: Casting light on ‘shadow spaces’ through an institutional-relational view," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 43(1), pages 3-21, February.
    3. Nik Theodore, 2023. "Day-Labor Worker Centers: Advancing New Models of Equity and Inclusion in the Informal Economy," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 37(4), pages 363-374, November.
    4. Jonathan Preminger, 2018. "Creating a multilayered representational ‘package’ for subcontracted workers: the case of cleaners at Ben†Gurion University," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(1), pages 34-49, January.
    5. M. Anne Visser, 2017. "A floor to exploitation? Social economy organizations at the edge of a restructuring economy," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 31(5), pages 782-799, October.
    6. Şafak Tartanoğlu, 2015. "Beyond informality: effectiveness of a new actor for representing call centre workers in Turkey," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(5-6), pages 381-397, November.
    7. Buchta Krystyna & Jakubiak Monika & Skiert Małgorzata & Wilczewski Adam, 2018. "University’s Social Responsibility – Labor Market Perspective," Folia Oeconomica Stetinensia, Sciendo, vol. 18(2), pages 46-58, December.
    8. Edmund Heery, 2018. "Fusion or replacement? Labour and the ‘new’ social movements," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 39(4), pages 661-680, November.
    9. Davide Però & John Downey, 2024. "Advancing Workers’ Rights in the Gig Economy through Discursive Power: The Communicative Strategies of Indie Unions," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 38(1), pages 140-160, February.
    10. Berndt Keller, 2018. "The rise of professional unions in Germany. Challenge and threat for established industrial relations?," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(3), pages 278-294, May.
    11. Mathew Johnson & Miguel Martínez Lucio & Stephen Mustchin & Damian Grimshaw & Jo Cartwright & Jenny K. Rodriguez & Tony Dundon, 2023. "City regions and decent work: Politics, pluralism and policy making in Greater Manchester," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 41(3), pages 504-522, May.
    12. Joy Jeounghee Kim & Skye Allmang, 2021. "Wage theft in the United States: Towards new research agendas," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 32(4), pages 534-551, December.
    13. Chris F. Wright, 2016. "Leveraging Reputational Risk: Sustainable Sourcing Campaigns for Improving Labour Standards in Production Networks," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 137(1), pages 195-210, August.
    14. Olav Øye & Laura Aelenei & Line Barkved & Stan Beaubien & Teresa Bertrand & Miriame Cherbib & Sirin Engen & Emily Creamer & Anna Ernst & Marie Gastine & Vasiliki Gemeni & Minh Ha-Duong & Ales Havlin &, 2015. "A vision and action plan for a low-carbon Europe," Working Papers hal-01564602, HAL.
    15. Tony Dobbins & Peter Prowse, 2024. "Moral Economy and the Ethics of the Real Living Wage in UK Football Clubs," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 195(2), pages 299-314, November.
    16. Matthew Amengual & Janice Fine, 2017. "Co‐enforcing Labor standards: the unique contributions of state and worker organizations in Argentina and the United States," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 11(2), pages 129-142, June.
    17. Liam James Heaphy, 2018. "The challenges of aligning the scales of urban climate science and climate policy in London and Manchester," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 36(4), pages 609-628, June.
    18. Stephen Hincks & Iain Deas & Graham Haughton, 2017. "Real Geographies, Real Economies and Soft Spatial Imaginaries: Creating a ‘More than Manchester’ Region," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(4), pages 642-657, July.
    19. Linda Briskin, 2008. "Cross‐constituency Organizing in Canadian Unions," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 46(2), pages 221-247, June.
    20. Jane Holgate, 2018. "The Sydney Alliance: A broad-based community organising potential for trade union transformation?," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 39(2), pages 312-331, May.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:indrel:v:54:y:2023:i:2:p:117-131. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0019-8692 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.