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Imagine there’s no heaven : imaginaries of local government austerity

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Date
20/10/2021
Author
Orr, Kevin
Bennett, Mike
Keywords
Imaginaries
Austerity
Narratives
Public sector
HD28 Management. Industrial Management
3rd-DAS
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Abstract
This article critically analyses the management of public sector austerity. Focusing on the case of UK local government chief executives, we develop the concept of austerity imaginaries. We provide four examples of these based on extensive interviewing. Offered as a theoretical concept, austerity imaginaries involve shared understandings of the role and potential for local government during times of acute fiscal pressure. We contribute empirical knowledge about the local dynamics of austerity and contribute to critical scholarship in this field. We argue that a simple thesis of ruination and destruction can obscure the creative work involved at the front line and we advocate the value of engaging both critically and empathetically with the everyday meanings in action of public managers working in circumstances far from their choosing. At the same time, the imaginaries reveal the insidious ways in which neoliberal assumptions about the public sector appear to delimit the scope for action.
Citation
Orr , K & Bennett , M 2021 , ' Imagine there’s no heaven : imaginaries of local government austerity ' , Organization , vol. First Online . https://doi.org/10.1177/13505084211051050
Publication
Organization
Status
Peer reviewed
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1177/13505084211051050
ISSN
1350-5084
Type
Journal article
Rights
Copyright © The Author(s) 2021. Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages.
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  • University of St Andrews Research
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/24182

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