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Absorbing the shock of austerity: the experience of local government workers at the front line

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  • Annette Hastings
  • Maria Gannon

Abstract

Whilst post-GFC austerity state retrenchment is widely studied, there is little research which focuses on the experiences of those who work at the front-line of austere public services. Drawing on qualitative evidence with front-line workers in four UK local authorities significantly impacted by austerity, this paper explores ‘coping mechanisms’ developed by workers to manage resource restriction. It argues that existing conceptualisations of coping mechanisms, such as either resistance or adaptation, are insufficient to understand how workers manage contemporary austerity. This paper proposes an additional mechanism – absorption – and explores analytically how workers cope with austerity in terms of resistance, adaptation and absorption. The paper concludes that front-line local government workers are coping with austerity cuts, in large part, by acting as ‘shock absorbers’ of state retrenchment.

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  • Annette Hastings & Maria Gannon, 2022. "Absorbing the shock of austerity: the experience of local government workers at the front line," Local Government Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(5), pages 887-906, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:flgsxx:v:48:y:2022:i:5:p:887-906
    DOI: 10.1080/03003930.2021.1889516
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    Cited by:

    1. Sochas, Laura & Chanfreau, Jenny, 2024. "Austerity as reproductive injustice: Did local government spending cuts unequally impact births?," SocArXiv 894p3, Center for Open Science.

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