Academic Commentary: 'Understanding the Changing Role of the Third Sector in the Era of Austerity'

Abstract

Perhaps the most enduring issue surrounding third sector engagement with government directed social policy initiatives is the preservation of organisational autonomy: how can voluntary organisations avoid becoming state outposts, providing cheap services for the state without abandoning the principle of caritas (the Latin term which encompasses the notions of altruism, caring and social solidarity) which influenced their foundation and shapes their practice? These three pieces, in their different ways, relate to this central question.