This thesis explores the phenomenon of the adoption of social enterprise models of practice by registered charities in England. In order to overcome resource shortfalls and to meet external statutory policy agendas, charities may be adopting business methods without a full understanding of the potential of business models to dilute their core mission and alter their operational practice and organisational structure. A case study approach is used to gain an in-depth understanding of the particular experiences of a specific charity. The case approach is extended to investigate the interplay between the case organisation and the policy implementation group that governs access to resources and support. An inductive analysis is conducted on interview data from respondents from both organisations. UK government policies are also examined, as are the historical antecedents for social enterprise adoption by charities. Adopting a critical management approach, this thesis draws on social origins theory and new institutional theories of organisational legitimacy to provide an understanding of why social enterprise models are being adopted by the case organisation and the impact of that adoption. This thesis contributes to the theoretical literature by introducing the concepts of 'mission holding', 'gate-keeping' and 'charitable enterprise' to the field of study, in order to provide a clear framework for exploration of the phenomena identified. Charitable enterprise identifies the adoption of enterprise activities by charitable organisations as part of their resource mix. It positions social enterprise as an activity, rather than as an organisational form. Empirically, this thesis contributes to the study of organisational change by illustrating the interplay between internal and external influences on decision-making, in this case choices to adopt social enterprise models of practice. The notion of sectoral and organisational independence is replaced here with the notion of interdependence, taking into account the historical interplay between the state and charitable sectors, drawing on the concept of non.-sovereign negotiated power.

Frequent reference is made to the importance of values in charitable organisations (Saxton 1994; Bennett 2003). They are said to be an organisation’s raison d'être and should underpin the charity's operations (Handy 1990). Whilst values research is being undertaken in the charity context, it is suggested that further research is required (Elson 2006). This thesis explores the relationship between the individual values of supporters, their perception of organisation values and supporter commitment. In particular it explores the types of values that drive commitment. As values of charitable organisations are communicated to supporters in part via staff behaviour (de Chernatony, Drury et al. 2004), the relationship between staff values, staff perception of organisation values and staff commitment is also explored. Relation to Literature Although it is not the intention of this thesis to measure branding per se, it can usefully inform the discussion. It is argued that supporters derive similar values related psychological benefits from associating with charities as consumers do from engaging with products and services (Schwartz 1967; Sheth, Newman et al. 1991). A match or ‘fit’ between an individual’s own values and those of an organisation provides an opportunity to both reinforce and express one’s sense of self (Belk 1988). This in turn results in committed behaviour and is as applicable for staff as for supporters (O'Reilly, Chatman et al. 1991). The literature review is therefore interdisciplinary in nature. Individual values theory demonstrates how values drive all forms of social behaviour and attitudes (Rokeach 1973). Values are also central to an individual’s identity and self-concept (Rogers 2003). Organisation values are said to be a set of values shared by the group (Deal 1985; Collins and Porras 1996). As values ‘fit’ and commitment have been empirically tested in the organisational behaviour arena, the person/organisation ‘fit’ literature provides the theoretical underpinning for investigating values ‘fit’ of both staff and supporters. Commitment is measured as a relational construct. Adapting the work of Finegan (2000), a research model is created that conceptualises individual and organisational values, and the interaction between them as drivers of staff and supporter commitment. The model is tested empirically with two UK charities. Findings Exploratory factor analysis identifies four robust factors that appear to play an important role in determining the commitment of staff and supporters. The factors are confirmed using confirmatory factor analysis with all but two of the eight data sets. In support of Finegan’s (2000) findings, values ‘fit’ may not be as important in driving commitment as own and organisational values. Multiple regression analysis shows that whilst own and organisation humanity type values are driving commitment in one charity, it is own and organisation vision type values (e.g. initiative, development and creativity) that are driving commitment in the other charity. Multiple hierarchical regression analysis shows that in the case of benevolence values the relationship with commitment is non-linear in some cases. Contribution The research makes a number of contributions. From a methodological perspective, the instrument used by Finegan is extended to include additional items relevant to the charity sector. These produce a separate and distinct factor. Developing Finegan's work, the four factors are confirmed by applying confirmatory factor analysis. The research also makes a number of theoretical contributions. Whilst the importance of benevolence and humanity values is well documented in the charity literature (2006), this study broadens the discussion in terms of these types of values. The suggestion that the relationship between benevolence type values and commitment is non linear has not hitherto been cited. Perhaps of most interest, however, is the suggestion that the staff perception of organisation values may play a key role in determining the extent to which values impact the commitment of supporters or staff. The instrument developed for this research provides the charity sector with an important tool for measuring the values of an organisation as perceived by their staff and supporters. Using a set of robust factors, it provides a manageable mechanism for assessing the values as seen by internal and external stakeholder groups.

The research object for this ‘case study’ and ‘power analysis’ are the campaigns for the construction, renovation and demolition of the Divis Flats complex in Belfast. An empirical investigation is undertaken of discrete phases of community action. The individual phases constitute historical segments of a complete case study covering a twenty-year period. The concepts developed by Stephen Lukes and John Gaventa and the ‘thinking tools’ provided by Pierre Bourdieu (1984: 1) are triangulated to explain and evaluate this community action. The central question addressed in the thesis is: does ‘the power cube’ with its focus on levels, forms and spaces of power provide an effective means to explain the outcomes of discrete periods of community action. Furthermore, do the ‘thinking tools’ of Pierre Bourdieu help ground Stephen Lukes and John Gaventa’s discussion of ‘third dimensional power’ in actual events. At the time of redevelopment, the Pound Loney was the most congested area in Northern Ireland. It was a highly segregated ethno/religious community. The redevelopment of the ‘Pound Loney’, the oldest of the historic ethno/religious working-class areas in central Belfast, involved the construction of the Divis Flats complex between 1966 and 1972. This historic neighbourhood was a site of intense communal conflict over the previous two hundred years. The ‘thinking tools’ developed by Pierre Bourdieu (1984: 1) where used to explore the origins, history and habitus of this resilient ‘defended neighbourhood’. Each historical chapter is a coherent nested case study within one overarching case study. The empirical data is interrogated by a triangulation of the different sources in each discrete phase. The work of Stephen Lukes and John Gaventa is used too analyse, and evaluate the emergence and ultimate success of power to as community action. Each phase of the campaign was shaped by the changing local, regional, national and international, social and political realities. This project provides a unique social history and analyis of community action at the micro level. It also provides a unique historical study of the relationship, at the micro level, between local community action before and during the United Kingdoms longest counter insurgency.

This thesis is about space, politics and the community. It examines how spatial politics constitutes a community through time. It explores the way that urban governance interacts with community politics, and more importantly, how people can rework politics through spatial practices. The thesis scales down to focus on a case study of Kinning Park Complex (KPC), an independently run community centre that was saved from closure by building users in 1996 following a 55 day sit-in. I track the trajectory of this space since 1996, to investigate the resourcefulness of the community to withstand multiple crises at local and national levels. KPC is a valuable social and political space that continues to exist in, against, and beyond neoliberalism. I focus on the paradoxical nature of KPC, as the space appears in-line with the current government plans to expand third sector projects in a context of austerity, whilst simultaneously striving to function as a non-hierarchical and not-for profit space. It is both an important site of social of reproduction and a symbolic community space. Through participatory methods and ethnographic observations, I have explored the social practices at KPC to investigate what they reveal about social relations and the structural problems that independent spaces face in the context of austerity. I draw upon the theories of Pierre Bourdieu and Jacques Rancière to elucidate the contradictions in their theoretical disagreement by relating their ideas to the rich empirical material that I gathered at KPC. Finally, I draw upon Doreen Massey to bridge this theoretical divide and to provide an essential spatial context to my work. The thesis brings to light the complexities, contradictions and tangible forms of labour involved in simultaneously struggling against, and providing services autonomously from, the state during austere times.

This thesis charts the work of a group of people in their efforts to set up a social centre in Glasgow. A social centre is like our once prolific community centre but with an explicit political character and agenda. They are social and cultural hubs where people can take part in a variety of communal events (e.g. dancing, cooking, eating, game play or simply hanging around). They are also places that encourage political debate, organization and action. Crucially, users are encouraged to participate in the day-to-day running of the centres. Social centres have a rich history in European radical politics. While proponents of various political philosophies use social centres, they are most commonly associated with anarchism. Anarchism is a tradition of political thought and practice that aims to build a society based on mutual aid and mass democratic participation characterised by a rejection of all forms of human domination over other humans. In this work I explore a variety of political and cultural initiatives employed by anarchist-influenced activists in Glasgow as they struggle against the neoliberalization of the city. It is the intention of this thesis to highlight the totalizing impositions of neoliberal urban governance and anarchist-inspired alternatives to these impositions, which I argue, constitute a different way of knowing and engaging with the city. These alternatives are prefigured in the doing of social centre work.

The increasing prominence of faith-based organisations (FBOs) in providing welfare in the UK has typically been regarded as a by-product of neoliberalism, as the gaps left by shrinking public service provision and the contracting out of service delivery have been filled by these and other Third Sector organisations. In this way, FBOs have been represented as merely being co-opted as inexpensive resource providers into the wider governmentalities of neoliberal politics – a process that allows a particular secularised form of religion in the public realm. In contrast FBOs working outside the financial and regulatory frameworks of government are understood to resist co-option and maintain the integrity a faith-motivated approach - an approach commonly assumed to be ideologically coercive and tainted by proselytising self-interest. This thesis challenges these conventional accounts of FBOs and the bifurcation of third sector welfare providers into “insiders” and “outsiders”. Drawing upon in-depth ethnographic research with FBOs providing drug rehabilitation services in the UK – and with the clients of these services – this thesis illustrates how neoliberalism can be co-constituted through the involvement of FBOs, which can offer various pathways of resistance in and through the pursuit of alternative philosophies of care and political activism. I critically question the difference faith makes in the processes of care and welfare in FBOs, critiquing the varied ethics of care derived in part from theological belief, and emphasise the relationships of care embodied and performed within organisational spaces as to complicate oversimplified stories of neoliberal co-option, proselytisation and social control. Equally, I argue that some accounts of secularisation of FBOs overlook a broader rapprochement between secular and faith-based ethical motivations, which can solicit new political and ethical spaces that run counter to, and sometimes actively resist, neoliberal (and religious) governmentalities. By drawing attention to the ethical agency of staff and clients in these spaces of care and regulation, this thesis paves the way for a more nuanced understanding of the geographies of faith, welfare and neoliberalism.