Big Society as Big Government: Cameron's Governmentality Agenda

Dan Bulley; Bal Sokhi-Bulley

doi:10.1111/j.1467-856X.2012.00547.x

Big Society as Big Government: Cameron's Governmentality Agenda

Dan Bulley, Bal Sokhi-Bulley

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

37 Citations (Scopus)

1592 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Cameron’s flagship policy of the ‘Big Society’ rests on a society/government dichotomy, diagnosing a ‘broken society’ caused by ‘big government’ having assumed the role communities once played. The remedy is greater social responsibility and the ‘Big Society’. This article argues that the dichotomy is
deceptive. We aim to show that the Big Society is big government, as it employs techniques for managing the conduct of individuals and communities such that the mentality of government, far from being removed or reduced, is bettered and made more efficient. To illustrate this, we explore two major initiatives: the National Citizen Service and the Community Resilience programme. These
projects demonstrate how practices of informing and guiding the conduct of individuals both produce agents and normalise certain values, resulting in the population being better known and controlled. Thus, far from lessening government and empowering people, the Big Society extends governmentality
throughout the social body.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	452-470
Number of pages	19
Journal	British Journal of Politics and International Relations
Volume	16
Issue number	13
Early online date	19 Oct 2012
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-856X.2012.00547.x
Publication status	Published - Mar 2014

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Political Science and International Relations
Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law

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10.1111/j.1467-856X.2012.00547.x

Big Society as Big Government- Cameron's Governmentality Agenda
© 2012 The Authors. British Journal of Politics and International Relations © 2012 Political Studies Association. This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Bulley, D. and Sokhi-Bulley, B. (2014), Big Society as Big Government: Cameron's Governmentality Agenda. The British Journal of Politics & International Relations, 16: 452–470, which has been published in final form at doi: 10.1111/j.1467-856X.2012.00547.x. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.
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Cite this

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Big Society as Big Government: Cameron's Governmentality Agenda

Abstract

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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