Fostering community engagement and tackling undeclared work: the case for an evidence‐based ‘joined‐up' public policy approach

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In this Subject: <a title="Families & Communities" href="/content/subcat?j_subject=239&j_availability=">Families & Communities
By this author: WILLIAMS, COLIN

Author: WILLIAMS, COLIN

Source: Regional Studies: The Journal of the Regional Studies Association, Volume 39, Number 8, November 2005 , pp. 1145-1155(11)

Publisher: Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group

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Abstract:

Williams C. C. (2005) Fostering community engagement and tackling undeclared work: the case for an evidence‐based ‘joined‐up' public policy approach, Regional Studies 39 , 1145–1155. Examining two realms of public policy treated as unrelated by academics and policy‐makers, namely fostering community engagement (and social capital) and tackling undeclared work, it is here shown that in the UK, these spheres are only unconnected when considering the lives of populations in affluent areas. In deprived areas, where most community engagement occurs on a one‐to‐one basis and usually involves the exchange of cash for favours, undeclared work and community engagement are conjoined. To conclude, therefore, the paper explores how a ‘joined‐up' public policy approach could be achieved.

Keywords: Underground economy; Social capital; Deprived neighbourhoods; Community involvement; Economie noire; Valeur de l'interaction sociale; Voisinages défavorisés; Engagement collectif; Untergrundwirtschaft; Sozialkapital; benachteiligte Wohngegenden; Gemeinschaftsengagement; Economía sumergida; Capital social; Comunidades marginadas; Participación comunitaria; JEL classifications: I32, O17, R20, Z13