Study title

This collection contains 11 qualitative interviews. The aim of the project was to examine different discourses surrounding impact as a phenomenon in civil society through academic, third sector and political actor perceptions of the way in which research impacts upon policy and society. The project considered the potential users of research, focusing on a case study of development workers and civil servants working on the Welsh Social Policy 'Communities First' over 18 years.This proposal is for a National Research Centre (WISERD/Civil Society) to undertake a five year programme of policy relevant research addressing Civil Society in Wales. Established in 2008, WISERD provides an 'All-Wales' focus for research and has had a major impact on the quantity and quality of social science research undertaken in Wales. As part of WISERD, WISERD/Civil Society will enable this work to be deepened and sustained through a focused research programme that further develops our research expertise, intensifies our policy impact and knowledge exchange work and strengthens our research capacity and career development activities. WISERD/Civil Society will therefore aim to develop key aspects of the multidisciplinary research initiated during the first phase of WISERD's work to produce new empirical evidence to inform our understanding of the changing nature of civil society in the context of devolved government and processes of profound social and economic change. There are many disagreements over what civil society is and how it may be changing. We do know that over the last forty years there have been unprecedented changes in the spheres of economy and industry, politics and governance, social relations and individual life courses. How individuals in local contexts are affected by and respond to dramatic institutional changes is not well understood. An important gap in our knowledge is in describing and explaining the impact of social change on local forms of civil society and...