Earlier this month, we were pleased to have CSISP visiting fellow Israel Rodriguez Giralt open the autumn term’s lecture series. You can find links to a full audio recording of the talk and slides below.
ISSUE-ORIENTATED ACTIVISM: Comparing the emergence of concerned groups around care policies for dependent people in UK and Spain.
This talk analyses and compares two political situations: the launch of the “Act on Dependency”, an important and controversial social policy approved in 2006 by the Spanish Government with the aim of guaranteeing public support for people who cannot lead independent lives for reasons of illness, disability or age; and the austerity programme (also known as “the cuts”), promoted in 2010 by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition Government of the United Kingdom as a way to tackle the UK’s budget deficit. Both episodes have given rise to huge public debates and they are still highly contested reforms. For this reason, they are both good scenarios where to study and compare the raising, development and transformation of political activism. Particularly around issues regarding social care, disability, independent living policies and ageing in contemporary societies. In this context, the aim of this talk is to map those forms of activism and analyze their actions, strategies and mechanisms of participation. The final section will address some recent discussions opened up in Science and Technology Studies about the “objects” of politics and the processes/practices mediating political participation/mobilization.
Recordings (to be downloaded; these are not designed to stream)
Issue-Oriented Activism: Israel Rodriguez Giralt
Slides