‘Policing the political’ is a research project which aims to understand how small civil society organisations are being affected by restrictions on ‘political’ activities. It is being conducted by me, Debs Grayson, based at Goldsmiths University. This blog is place where I will be sharing the most interesting bits of my research as I go along, especially as the research period has ended up coinciding with an election.
Civil society in the UK is struggling with cuts to public funding, loss of public spaces, growing poverty and inequality, and deepening social divisions. Government policies are a major cause of these problems, but organisations trying to deal with the fallout often find themselves labelled illegitimately ‘political’ if they are seen as too oppositional. I’m trying to understand how this affects small organisations and stops them from being able to make meaningful change. You can read more about the background to the project here.
If you or your organisation has a story to tell and would be up for an anonymous interview, please check out the FAQs and/or contact me: debsgrayson [a] protonmail dot com
policingthepolitical.politics.blog 