Class in the charity sector: why won’t we discuss this?

One of the areas of research interest from way back to my academic days in the role of class and economic justicce in social change. It’s an irony therefore that I found myself in a sector with a profound and rigid class structure, and one which seems to resist all attempts to even talk about it, never mind challenge it.

I was delighted therefore to be invited on to the Benefact Group podcast talking to Felicia Willow along with, Dorothea Jones FRSA FIEDP and Duncan Exley, about the ongoing problems with class in the voluntary sector.

Charities have so often been given the role historically of preserving class relations: we are the apolitical safety valve for the poor masses to avoid deeper change. That’s why whichever class is in charge at any point has ended up being in charge of charities. But I think that can change. It starts with us making more noise. It starts by us being willing to challenge the dominant narratives. And by refusing to simply act as the window dressing on capitalist profit extraction when we know better than anyone how unsatisfactory our work is for economic change.

You can find more of my writing about class, the charity sector, and politics at my personal blog project, Barely Civil Society.