Trust, Human Rights and Civil Society Within Mixed Economies of Welfare, 2020-2021

This project examined the issues, progress and challenges facing Civil Society Organisations as they deliver, and shape, welfare and press for the advancement of human rights. We examined developments in domiciliary and community based adult social care. In particular, we explore policy developments and practice in Wales, Scotland, England and Northern Ireland, looking to provide new insights into the territorialisation of welfare in the wake of devolution in the UK in 1998/9. In turn this tells us about the efficacy of different welfare mixes and policy divergence in a quasi-federal UK. The original data gathering associated with this work involves multiple semi-structured interviews with national and local third sector organisations concerned with social care delivery, complemented by interviews with regulatory and other state bodies. A key research question is: ‘how do third sector organisations perceive the issues, progress and challenges of their welfare delivery role?’. In the wake of the pandemic, we also sought practitioners’ views on the impact of the COVID-19 emergency on third sector organisations’ social care delivery and how responses were also shaped by the unique context found in each of the four nations.<p>WISERD celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. Over time it has grown into an international research institute that develops the next generation of research leaders. Our research brings together different disciplines (geographers, economists, sociologists, data scientists, political scientists) to address important issues for civil society at national and international levels. Our social science core provides a strong foundation for working with other disciplines including environmental science, engineering and medicine to transform our understanding and approaches to key areas of public concern. Our aim is to provide evidence that informs and changes policy and practice. This Centre will build on all previous WISERD research activities to undertake an ambitious new research programme. Our focus will be on the concept of civic stratification. This is a way of looking at divisions in society by focusing on the rights and obligations and practices of citizens and the role of civil society organisations in addressing inequalities in those rights and obligations. We will examine and analyse instances where people do not have the same rights as others (for example people who are migrants or refugees). We will also look at examples of people and groups working together within civil society to win new rights; this is referred to as civic expansion. Examples might include campaigns for animal rights or concerns about robots and Artificial Intelligence. We will investigate situations where people have the same rights but experience differences in their ability to access those rights; sometimes referred to as civic gain and civic loss (for example some people are better able to access legal services than others). Lastly, we will explore how individuals and groups come together to overcome deficits in their rights and citizenship; sometimes referred to as forms of civil repair. This might include ways in which people are looking at alternative forms of economic organisation, at local sustainability and at using new technologies (platforms and software) to organise and campaign for their rights. Our centre will deliver across four key areas of activity. First our research programme will focus on themes that address the different aspects of civic stratification. We will examine trends in polarization of economic, political and social rights, looking at how campaigns for rights are changing and undertaking case studies of attempts to repair the fabric of civil life. Second, we will extend and deepen our international and civil society research partnerships and networks and by doing so strengthen our foundations for developing further joint research in the future. Third, we will implement an exciting and accessible 'knowledge exchange' programme to enable our research and evidence to reach, involve and influence as many people as possible. Fourth, we will expand the capacity of social science research and nurture future research leaders. All our research projects will be jointly undertaken with key partners including civil society organisations, such as charities, and local communities. The research programme is broad and will include the collection of new data, the exploitation of existing data sources and linking existing sets of data. The data will range from local detailed studies to large cross-national comparisons. We will make the most of our skills and abilities to work with major RCUK research investments. We have an outstanding track record in maximising research impact, in applying a wide range of research methods to real world problems. This exciting and challenging research programme is based on a unique, long standing and supportive relationship between five core universities in Wales and our partnerships with universities and research institutes in the UK and internationally. It addresses priority areas identified by the ESRC and by governments and is informed by our continued close links with civil society organisations.</p>本项目聚焦民间社会组织（Civil Society Organisations, CSOs）在提供、塑造福利体系并推动人权进步过程中面临的问题、进展与挑战。我们针对居家及社区成人社会照护领域的发展展开研究，重点考察威尔士、苏格兰、英格兰与北爱尔兰的政策演进与实践现状，以期为1998/9年英国分权（devolution）后福利体系的地域化特征提供全新洞察，进而揭示准联邦制（quasi-federal）英国下不同福利组合的效能与政策分化情况。本研究的原始数据采集工作包含两部分：一是对关注社会照护（social care）服务提供的全国性与地方性第三部门组织开展多场半结构化访谈（semi-structured interviews），二是辅以对监管机构及其他公共部门主体的访谈。本项目的核心研究问题为：“第三部门组织如何看待自身履行福利提供职能时面临的问题、进展与挑战？” 新冠疫情暴发后，我们还征集了从业者的观点，以了解新冠疫情应急措施对第三部门组织社会照护服务的影响，以及英国四个构成国的独特背景如何形塑其应对举措。 WISERD今年迎来十周年纪念。历经十年发展，该机构已成长为一所国际知名研究机构，致力于培育下一代研究领军人才。我们的研究整合多学科力量（包括地理学家、经济学家、社会学家、数据科学家与政治学家），聚焦国家与国际层面的公民社会重大议题。我们的社会科学研究核心为跨学科合作奠定了坚实基础，通过与环境科学、工程学、医学等领域的学者协作，深化公众关切的关键领域的认知与研究路径。本中心的研究目标是提供能够指导并变革政策与实践的实证证据。本新研究项目将依托WISERD过往所有研究活动，开展一项具有前瞻性的全新研究计划，其核心聚焦于公民分层（civic stratification）这一概念：该框架通过关注公民的权利、义务与实践，以及民间社会组织在消解此类权利与义务不平等中发挥的作用，来解析社会分化现象。我们将对以下四类场景展开分析与研究：其一，公民权利不平等场景，即部分群体无法享有与他人同等的权利，例如移民或难民群体；其二，公民扩张（civic expansion）场景，即公民社会内部的群体携手争取新权利的实践，例如动物权利维权运动或针对机器人与人工智能（Artificial Intelligence, AI）的相关议题；其三，公民得失（civic gain and civic loss）场景，即部分群体虽享有同等法定权利，但在实际获取权利的能力上存在差异，例如不同群体获取法律服务的能力存在显著差距；其四，公民修复（civil repair）场景，即个体与群体联合起来弥补自身权利与公民身份的缺失，例如探索替代性经济组织形式、推动本地可持续发展，或借助新兴技术（平台与软件）组织维权活动。本中心将围绕四大核心活动领域推进研究：其一，聚焦公民分层各维度的研究计划，考察经济、政治与社会权利的极化趋势，分析权利维权运动的演进路径，并开展修复公民生活肌理的案例研究；其二，拓展并深化国际与民间社会研究伙伴关系及网络，为未来开展更多联合研究筑牢根基；其三，实施兼具吸引力与普适性的“知识交流（knowledge exchange）”计划，推动研究成果与实证证据触达、吸纳并影响尽可能广泛的受众；其四，扩充社会科学研究能力，培育未来的研究领军人才。本中心所有研究项目均将与包括慈善机构在内的民间社会组织及本地社区等核心合作伙伴联合开展。本研究计划覆盖范围广泛，涵盖全新数据采集、现有数据源挖掘以及多数据集联动整合。研究数据将覆盖从本地化精细研究到大型跨国比较的各类场景。我们将充分发挥自身优势，深度参与英国研究委员会联合体（Research Councils UK, RCUK）的重大研究投资项目。本团队在最大化研究影响力、运用多元研究方法解决现实世界问题方面拥有卓越的过往业绩。这项兼具挑战性与创新性的研究计划，依托威尔士五所核心高校之间长期且稳固的合作关系，以及与英国及全球其他高校、研究机构的伙伴关系得以开展。本研究计划契合经济与社会研究理事会（Economic and Social Research Council, ESRC）与各国政府确定的优先研究领域，同时也得益于我们与民间社会组织的持续紧密合作。