ABSTRACT
The economic crisis of 2007 presented a challenge to welfare states across Europe and beyond. It also presented a challenge to citizens, who experienced the brunt of the austerity agenda and subsequent tightening of welfare spending. The findings presented a mixed picture of activism, organisation and protest action in a post-crisis environment. What stood out ultimately from the results is a rejection, at least from social movements, of the hierarchies that dominate left-wing political struggles within the UK. Moreover, there are signs of frustration with key elements of left-wing organisations that have failed to take on the challenge of sustaining protest activity against government austerity. The types of policy objective that social movements might espouse during the process of conducting interviews were perhaps less easy to discern, as activists were less willing to make specific links with policy aims. Concerning movements’ decisions to act upon a grievance, there were many interesting responses from interviewee.
