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. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. 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.
    4. Janice Fine & Jennifer Gordon, 2010. "Strengthening Labor Standards Enforcement through Partnerships with Workers’ Organizations," Politics & Society, , vol. 38(4), pages 552-585, December.
    5. 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.
    6. 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.
    7. 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.
    8. 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.
    9. 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.
    10. 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.
    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. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. 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.
    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. 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.
    8. 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.
    9. 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.
    10. 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.
    11. 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.
    12. 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.
    13. 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.
    14. Li, Qian & Wang, Zhouyuanye, 2025. "ENGO geographical proximity and corporate environmental performance," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 576-589.
    15. David Beel & Martin Jones & Ian Rees Jones & Warren Escadale, 2017. "Connected growth: Developing a framework to drive inclusive growth across a city-region," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 32(6), pages 565-575, September.
    16. Fabien Martinez, 2023. "Exploring the syncretic dynamics involved in dyadic business–NGO partnerships," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(7), pages 4068-4083, November.
    17. Mick Marchington & Jane Suter, 2013. "Where Informality Really Matters: Patterns of Employee Involvement and Participation (EIP) in a Non-Union Firm," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52, pages 284-313, January.
    18. Chung, Chune Young & Shakri, Irfan Haider, 2025. "Local environmental organizations and employee directors on the board," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    19. Ian Clark & Trevor Colling, 2018. "Work in Britain's Informal Economy: Learning from Road†Side Hand Car Washes," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 56(2), pages 320-341, June.
    20. Alexander Nurse & Matthew Fulton, 2017. "Delivering strategic economic development in a time of urban austerity: European Union structural funds and the English city regions," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 32(3), pages 164-182, 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.