Public accountability: reforms and resistance in social housing |
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Authors: | Stewart Smyth |
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Institution: | Accounting and Financial Management, Sheffield University Management School, Sheffield, UK |
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Abstract: | The paper illustrates and discusses the changing nature of public accountability relations in public services that are transferred to a mutual organization. The paper contributes to the literature that studies resistance to the neo-liberal restructuring process, highlighting civil society campaigns as important actors. A social housing case study in Britain is developed, combining a critical realist and dialogical influenced analysis. The case study identifies the role of private finance, illustrating tensions between democratic-styled and NGO-styled public accountability relations. A conclusion that housing mutuals are in danger of being apologia for private capitalism is established. |
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Keywords: | Social housing public accountability neo-liberalism resistance |
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