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Constituting the Third Sector: Processes of Decontestation and Contention Under the UK Labour Governments in England

Alcock, Peter, Kendall, Jeremy (2011) Constituting the Third Sector: Processes of Decontestation and Contention Under the UK Labour Governments in England. VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 22 (3). pp. 450-469. ISSN 0957-8765. (doi:10.1007/s11266-010-9178-9) (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:34460)

The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided.
Official URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11266-010-9178-9

Abstract

Discussion about, and analysis of, the question of definition and the third sector and civil society more generally has developed to a significant degree in recent years. This paper can be located in a new phase of recent research, which seeks to attend to the historical, cultural and politically contingent nature of this domain’s boundaries. The process of constituting the sector is discussed as the product of new discourses of decontestation and contention within third sector policy and practice. It takes England as a case study, drawing on evidence and argument assembled by the authors in recent and ongoing research efforts, variously conducted with the support of the Third Sector Research Centre (TSRC) and the European Commission. The paper proceeds by discussing relevant literature; describing recent patterns of policy institutionalisation; and then tries to draw out more analytically how this process of constitution has been associated not so much with a stable and consistent set of definitions and constructs, but rather with unstable and changing formulations, which reflect the playing out of a dual process of decontestation and contention.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1007/s11266-010-9178-9
Subjects: H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
Divisions: Divisions > Division for the Study of Law, Society and Social Justice > School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research
Depositing User: Mita Mondal
Date Deposited: 01 Jul 2013 09:20 UTC
Last Modified: 16 Nov 2021 10:11 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/34460 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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