Access to justice for disadvantaged communities
(eBook)

English

10.51952/9781447311041

EPUB and EPDF available Open Access under CC-BY-NC-ND licence. Access to justice for all, regardless of the ability to pay, has been a core democratic value. But this basic human right has come under threat through wider processes of restructuring, with an increasingly market-led approach to the provision of welfare. Professionals and volunteers in Law Centres in Britain are struggling to provide legal advice and access to welfare rights to disadvantaged communities. Drawing upon original research, this unique study explores how strategies to safeguard these vital services might be developed in ways that strengthen rather than undermine the basic ethics and principles of public service provision. The book explores how such strategies might strengthen the position of those who provide, as well as those who need, public services, and ways to empower communities to work more effectively with professionals and progressive organisations in the pursuit of rights and social justice agendas more widely.

Marjorie Mayo is Emeritus Professor of Community Development, Goldsmiths, University of London. Her research has included learning for active citizenship, and access to justice in disadvantaged communities. Gerald Koessl has recently completed his PhD in Sociology at Goldsmiths, University of London, where he has also worked as a researcher. Matthew Scott is a lecturer in Community Development and Social Policy at London Metropolitan University and Goldsmiths, University of London. His experience includes being a director of the Community Sector Coalition. Imogen Slater is a consultant and researcher at the Centre for Urban and Community Research, Goldsmiths, University of London.