Why the Local Economy?
It’s good to be back! Over my break I’ve taken this site in new directions. You will see major changes over the coming weeks and this blog will keep you up to date with them.
Today I’m starting a major new strand – the local economy. On Mondays I explore topics under the heading “Mutuality”. This strand focuses on the third sector. My particular interest is community development although I’ve explored a range of topics you can find here:
I reviewed:
- relationships between the third, private and statutory sectors
- the types of third sector organisation
- approaches to working participatively, and
- partnership theory.
(These links will take you to my new cornerstone pages, where you can see these posts laid out in an accessible format. See this Friday’s post for more detail!)
The Local Economy and the Third Sector
The third sector, understood as everything neither private nor statutory, needlessly drives a wedge between the local economy and community organisations. Misapplied grant aid separates community-based initiatives from the local economy. Once the money runs out, community activities die back and the local economy remains unchanged. Whilst I’m sure there are examples of good practice, I believe this happens too often.
Why? It’s largely to do with values. Business people work for their own benefit in contrast to the altruistic values of the third sector. Reality is more complex. I have several times argued the two sectors complement each other more than many realise.
Many business people start out with altruistic values; they understanding businesses are the most effective way to commit their time to their goals. Others discover, even though they seek personal profit as a priority, they are best positioned when providing something of real value. A good reputation is of massive value to their business. Similarly many in the voluntary sector eventually understand they need income to keep going; they find the constraints in the sector on trading arbitrary and frustrating.
Further, business people can find the third sector judgemental about their values and hopelessly tied into bureaucratic rules and regulations. Often self-employed people leave employment to set up on their own because they’ve had enough bureaucracy from their employers.
Third sector people can find business people distant and not interested in their cause. They’re busy and don’t have time to commit to good causes.
Is this beneficial to anyone? The third sector, working so closely with statutory funding bodies, achieves relatively little in the most disadvantaged communities. Where they set up commercial enterprises for charitable purposes, they are often poorly conceived.
In my next post I shall look at a few examples. My purpose is to highlight some of the issues, not to deny that a lot of good work is taking place in voluntary organisations and small businesses. I’m particularly interested in good examples of collaboration across the private and voluntary sectors. Leave a note about any you know in the comments box.