Search results

Community service organisations have a strong tradition of social justice and were, in some cases, born out of the social movements of the 1960s and 1970s. However, the rise of neo-liberal/economic rationalist economics and the decline of the welfare state have put the social justice tradition under increasing pressure. This has included ideological, organisational and resource demands on workers and services. The education sector has also been influenced by the political economic conditions, leading to increasingly corporatised, rationalised and privatised provision. What questions does this pose for workbased partnerships between universities and the community sector? This paper explores questions around the nature of workbased partnerships with the community sector. Are workbased partnerships likely to be dominated by neo-liberalist perspectives? Is it possible to sustain partnerships which are critically orientated? What might assist partnerships which hold to the community sector tradition of social justice advocacy? The author presents these questions from the perspective of ongoing research into the orientation of community sector workers to the changing political economy in Australia.