Policy Press

Resilience in the Post-Welfare Inner City

Voluntary Sector Geographies in London, Los Angeles and Sydney

By Geoffrey DeVerteuil

Published

Aug 17, 2016

Page count

300 pages

ISBN

978-1447316640

Dimensions

234 x 156 mm

Imprint

Policy Press

Published

May 20, 2015

Page count

300 pages

ISBN

978-1447316558

Dimensions

234 x 156 mm

Imprint

Policy Press

Published

Aug 17, 2016

Page count

300 pages

ISBN

978-1447321286

Dimensions

Imprint

Policy Press

Published

Aug 17, 2016

Page count

300 pages

ISBN

978-1447321293

Dimensions

Imprint

Policy Press
Resilience in the Post-Welfare Inner City

'Resilience' has become one of the first fully fledged academic and political buzzwords of the 21st century. Within this context, Geoffrey DeVerteuil proposes a more critically engaged and conceptually robust version, applying it to the conspicuous but now residual clusters of inner-city voluntary sector organisations deemed ‘service hubs’.

The process of resilience is compared across ten service hubs in three complex but different global inner-city regions – London, Los Angeles and Sydney – in response to the threat of gentrification-induced displacement. DeVerteuil shows that resilience can be about holding on to previous gains but also about holding out for transformation. The book is the first to move beyond theoretical works on ‘resilience’ and offers a combined conceptual and empirical approach that will interest urban geographers, social planners and researchers in the voluntary sector.

"DeVerteuil demonstrates well the complex interplay of public, private and voluntary sectors across the three city regions studied and offers real insight around the varied strategies that have enabled VSOs' survival." Antipode

"Makes a vital contribution to a wider search for a more realistic understanding of what is really happening on the ground of key urban governance and policy realms" - Voluntas

“An insightful and theory-laden exposition of the challenges facing the voluntary sector in the 21st century… the appeal of this book goes beyond geographers to include those interested in welfare reforms, voluntary sector provision and the city as a contested arena.” The Voluntary Sector Review

"The siege on the welfare state has destroyed most collective consumption institutions, yet voluntary organisations survive in the global city. DeVerteuil’s excellent analysis shows us how – and why it matters." Elvin Wyly, The University of British Columbia, Canada

Geoffrey DeVerteuil is currently senior lecturer at Cardiff University. His research focuses on vulnerable populations and the welfare state and voluntary sector’s role in managing the consequences of extreme inequality. As a social geographer of health, he has examined the shifting geographies of mental health care and the challenges in sustaining therapeutic landscapes within marginalised spaces of the city.