What kinds of care are being offered or withdrawn by the welfare state? What does this mean for the caring practices and interventions of local activists?

Shedding new light on austerity and neoliberal welfare reform in the UK, this vital book considers local action and activism within contexts of crisis, including the COVID-19 pandemic.

Presenting compelling case studies of local action, from protesting cuts to children’s services to local food provisioning and support for migrant women, this book makes visible often unseen practices of activism. It shows how the creativity and persistence of such local practices can be seen as enacting wider visions of how care should be provided by society.

“Jupp skilfully connects micro-, meso- and macro-levels through her investigation of activists’ involvement in various forms of organising (not necessarily organisations) in a welfare state shaped by austerity. Her nuanced analysis addresses the affordances and ambivalences of community activism.” The Sociological Review
“Eleanor Jupp explores the local and less visible forms of activism that have arisen as women have sought to fill the vacuum left by a retreating state. Her analysis will inspire and inform research on gender, welfare and austerity.” Julie MacLeavy, University of Bristol
"Eleanor Jupp’s research traces the emergence of local creativity and activism in the face of current crises of care. These offer ways of transcending the perverse conjunction of austerity and COVID-19 in the UK." Janet Newman, Open University

Eleanor Jupp is Senior Lecturer in Social Policy at the University of Kent.