A new Third Sector Research Centre report has suggested that although the voluntary sector is often cynical about the Big Society concept, many still see opportunities – if the government can successfully package the idea.
Making sense of the Big Society: perspectives from the third sector draws on data from a longitudinal qualitative study of voluntary sector organisations through 15 case studies, exploring the Big Society concept’s difficulties as a political narrative and examining how it has been received by the sector.
Practitioners from vaious organisations and positions were asked how they view the government’s Big Society agenda, what sense they make of it, and how they might respond.
The paper's author, Rob Macmillan, found a double-sided response: overwhelming scepticism about the Big Society agenda coupled with an awareness of potential opportunities ahead, provided the government had a “more compelling and realistic vision”.
Many participants felt that there is a contradiction between the coalition government promoting the sector on one hand but at the same time cutting budgets and services in the name of deficit reduction. Yet many, often the same respondents, still felt the need to position their organisations and activities in relation to the Big Society.
Macmillan commented that many voluntary organisations still want to engage with public policy – but warned that those in government pushing the Big Society agenda need to engage with the sector in ways which make sense in everyday life and at the frontline.
“Politicians and policy-makers are often encouraged to set out clear narratives explaining their vision for the direction of society,” he said. “But they should tread carefully. If these stories fail to offer compelling and realistic scenarios, they are in danger of being derided or dismissed.”
The paper is one output from the first three waves of fieldwork from Third Sector Research Centre’s long-term Real Times research project, spanning May 2010 to November 2011.
Responding to the report, Minister for Civil Society Nick Hurd said: "If some people want to continue agonising over definition that is fine. If some voluntary organisations want to express their frustration with government that is fine too. We think it is more productive to work with more positive elements in the sector who see the opportunities that are being opened up by government. It takes a pretty jaundiced sceptic not to recognise the activity that is going on to encourage more giving, volunteering and social investment."
