Brendan Evans

`It's like Maintaining a Hedge': Constraints on Citizen Engagement in Community Regeneration in East Manchester

Since participation at the local level is frequently urged as a solution to political disengagement (Stoker, 2006), it is important to acknowledge the structural obstacles to the ready imposition of the participatory project. This article argues that this focus upon popular democratic participation in urban affairs neglects the realities of political and social life, particularly for poorer areas of cities, and the structural constraints that greatly limit the opportunities for residents to engage actively within their community. From this perspective, the miracle is how much participation occurs rather than how little.

Neo‐Liberalism and Training Policy 1979‐1992: a Rejoinder to Desmond King

Desmond King underestimates the continuity of Conservative training policy since 1979. In his article in the June 1993 edition of Political Studies he argues that the abolition of the Manpower Services Commission (MSC) and its replacement by the Training and Enterprise Councils (TECs) represented a reversal of policy from statism to neo-liberalism. King underestimates the degree to which neo-liberal ideology was a source of the state intervention carried out by the MSC before 1988. Further, while he is correct to identify the contemporary role of the TECs, he exaggerates the extent to which they signify the new triumph of neo-liberal ideology. King also exaggerates the unity of attitude towards training among neoliberals and the effect of ideology in the policy-making process. He appears to pay little attention to the substantial body of published work demonstrating the continuing degree of pragmatism which infused the Conservative government’s policy in this area.’ While the government undoubtedly pursued New Right goals in its training policy it simultaneously responded to the crisis of unemployment with a series of measures intended to produce a rapid reduction in the unemployment statistics. Dror has referred to such measures as ‘semi-convulsive’ responses which lack a proper identification of the problems.2 The government’s retention of the MSC for much of the 1980s was compatible with New Right and neo-liberal principles. King actually acknowledges Polanyi’s insight that the ’road to the free market’ requires an increase in ‘controlled interventionism’ but dismisses this as a contradiction in free market liberalism.’ Yet, as Gamble has convincingly argued, the rolling back of the state in some areas has been accompanied by its advance in others. His pioneering work demonstrates that ‘Thatcherism’ was compatible with both a reduction in social freedom and involved transitional government intervention aimed at creating the conditions for market liberalism to function more

Further Education Pressure Groups: the Campaign for Adult Education in 1944

The present arrangements for Adult Education in Britain are a product of the Education Act of 1944. This article examines the emergence of the clauses of the Act concerned with Adult Education. Adult Education was one of the three components in the Act concerned with Further Education, the others being technical and continued education. An article published in History of Education examined the campaigns conducted on behalf of both continued and technical education in the years before 1944 (Evans, 1982). Its conclusion was that there were two elements which ensured some success for those campaigns: the impact of war and the effect of pressure group activity. The first two parts of this article seek to demonstrate that the same influences were also salient in Adult Education. They proved to be rather less effective, however, and Adult Education won only a hollow victory. The third part of the article reveals that many campaigners for Adult Education weakened their own campaign by indulging in an internecine conflict damaging to the cause as a whole. The powerful impulse for the reform of education in general developed in 1940 and 1941. The process was well advanced when R. A. Butler became President of the Board of Education in July 1941. But, by building on the work of his predecessor, Butler succeeded in widening the consultative processes between Board officials and the affected interests. By the end of 1941 the stage was set to launch campaigns on behalf of particular parts of the education system.

The Regeneration of East Manchester: A Political Analysis

East Manchester has been the site of one of the most substantial regeneration projects internationally. The initiative in east Manchester confirmed the tag that the city is the ‘regeneration capital’ of the United Kingdom. While the book focuses on a single project, it has wider relevance to national and international regeneration initiatives. The book assesses the outcomes of the regeneration, although it demonstrates the difficulties in producing a definitive evaluation. It has a political focus and illuminates and challenges many assumptions underpinning three major current academic debates: governance, participatory democracy and ideology. The book is relevant to students of politics, geography, sociology, public administration and recent history but will also interest practitioners, academics and general readers interested in urban regeneration. Mancunians will also be fascinated by the rapidly changing face and character of their city as will those with an interest in Manchester’s football, the Commonwealth Games and Sportcity.

Leading the way? The relationship between 'Devo-Manc', Combined Authorities and the Northern Powerhouse

The proposal for a Northern Powerhouse and the development of combined authorities are inextricably connected. In both cases, Manchester plays a pivotal role which is not challenged by the May Government’s focus on national rather than simply Northern regeneration. Manchester’s leadership of the combined authorities initiative is based on its institutional maturity and its central role in the promotion of the Independent Economic Review to develop an economic strategy for the Northern Powerhouse. There is evidence that in the existing governance vacuum of the Northern Powerhouse, the leadership of the GMCA will provide a fulcrum, although there remains uncertainty about the long-term sustainability of both combined authorities and the Northern Powerhouse, until both are tested by the decisions to be taken about Northern transport interconnectivity and the impact of the metro-mayoral elections.

CITIZEN PARTICIPATION IN EAST MANCHESTER: FROM PRACTICE TO THEORY

Utilising the major urban regeneration project launched by government in east Manchester in 1998, our aim is to evaluate the nature and extent of the involvement of local residents in the project and to use our findings to review democratic theory. We invert the normal theory and practice relationship to argue that it is sometimes valuable to build on existing practice in assessing democratic involvement rather than to proceed simply on the basis of normative theoretical ideals.