Civil society elites’ challengers in the UK: A frontlash/backlash perspective
| Published date | 01 February 2024 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/13691481221139806 |
| Author | Milka Ivanovska Hadjievska |
| Date | 01 February 2024 |
| Subject Matter | Original Articles |
https://doi.org/10.1177/13691481221139806
The British Journal of Politics and
International Relations
2024, Vol. 26(1) 114 –130
© The Author(s) 2022
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DOI: 10.1177/13691481221139806
journals.sagepub.com/home/bpi
Civil society elites’ challengers
in the UK: A frontlash/backlash
perspective
Milka Ivanovska Hadjievska
Abstract
Amid growing polarisation in European societies, civil society elites, encompassing resource-
rich, influential and often liberal-oriented civil society organisations (CSOs), are under increased
attacks by conservative and progressive actors alike. This article aims to understand who
challenges civil society elites, on what grounds, and with what means do they do so in the United
Kingdom, by drawing on the cultural theory of frontlash/backlash. The article portrays two
ideologically opposed challengers: one coming from within the charity sector in the form of the
#CharitySoWhite campaign and another from outside the charity sector led by Conservative
MPs, the Common Sense group. While these two challengers are not directly connected, they are
part of the broader frontlash/backlash dynamic polarising public debates, with spillover effects in
civil society. By applying a frontlash/backlash perspective, the article puts an emphasis on cultural
cleavages as one of the central sources of polarisation in the civil space.
Keywords
backlash, Black Lives Matter, civil society elites, charity sector, contestation, frontlash
Introduction
In September 2021, the international watchdog organisation CIVICUS placed the United
Kingdom (UK) on its watchlist of countries in which civic freedoms are rapidly deteriorating.1
While the UK remains a liberal democracy (V-Dem, 2021), its civic space is classified as nar-
rowed (CIVICUS, 2021). A recent annual survey with campaigners conducted by the Sheila
McKechnie Foundation found that almost two-thirds of civil society organisations (CSOs)
reported that politicians are becoming increasingly negative towards social justice charities,
launching media attacks, being closed for cooperation, and creating a hostile environment for
campaigners (Butler and Siddique, 2021). Moreover, 90% of respondents agreed that there are
threats to the civic space in the UK, and one of the most cited reasons for this belief included
‘the negative views of politicians on civil society campaigning’ and ‘negative media coverage
on CSOs’ (Sheila McKechnie Foundation, 2020).
Lund University, Sweden
Corresponding author:
Milka Ivanovska Hadjievska, Department of Political Science, Eden, Lund University, Allhelgona kyrkogata 14,
Lund, Box 52, 221 00 Lund, Sweden.
Emails: milka.ivanovska_hadjievska@svet.lu.se; milkteoiva@gmail.com
1139806BPI0010.1177/13691481221139806The British Journal of Politics and International RelationsIvanovska Hadjievska
research-article2022
Original Article
Ivanovska Hadjievska 115
This might not come as a surprise, as the ‘shrinking of civil society space’, understood
as narrowing down the space for the activity and manoeuvring of CSOs (Borgh and van
der Terwindt, 2012: 1068; Buyse, 2018: 969), has become a central concern for Europe
– a concern that is not limited to hybrid and authoritarian regimes only (Bolleyer, 2021;
Swiney, 2019). Similar to other countries, the restrictions of CSOs in the UK are dispro-
portionately affecting advocacy-oriented groups working on social justice, democracy
and human rights issues (Ruzza and Sanchez Salgado, 2021: 472). Although the literature
on civic space includes concrete cases of CSOs under attack, it fails to recognise that
often these CSOs hold an elite status, and are indeed the most prominent and resource-
rich actors in a given civil society, strategically targeted and framed by contesters as an
integral part of the broader (liberal) establishment (Hummel, 2022). Civil society elites
are contested by grassroots movements with weak ties to elite actors, but also from elite
actors (e.g. government parties) with access to considerable political resources and public
venues (della Porta and Steinhilper, 2021; Graff and Korolczuk, 2021).
The focus of this study is on the challengers of civil society elites in the UK, aiming to
understand who, on what grounds and with what means challenges, that is, takes an active
stand against, the position or activities of these elites. Civil society elites encompass
major CSOs occupying the top layer or the ‘peak’ of organisational populations in terms
of political and economic resources (Johansson and Uhlin, 2020; Lindellee and
Scaramuzzino, 2020). The UK has a highly stratified civil society sector characterised by
a smaller group of large CSOs (mainly charities2) with extensive resources and regular
access to decision-making venues at the national level (Dommett et al., 2017; NCVO,
2020). Such stratification makes it suitable for applying a positional approach of elite
identification (Hoffmann-Lange, 2018), used for identifying dominant organisations in a
sector (e.g. business or civil society) and their formal leadership.3 Following this approach,
recent mapping of civil society elites in the UK includes major charities (e.g. Barnardo’s,
British Red Cross, Oxfam), infrastructure bodies representing CSO interests (e.g. NCVO,
ACEVO), as well as grant-making bodies (e.g. Prince’s Trust, HALO Trust, etc.) (see
Altermark et al., 2022). These CSOs are professionalised and bureaucratised organisa-
tions, often with significant access to state funding. The leadership (including governance
and executive leaders) of ‘peak’ CSOs display similarity in demographic characteristics
(Green Park, 2018; Inclusive Boards, 2018) and share extensive cultural capital (elite
education), similar to political and business elites (Arvidson and Ivanovska Hadjievska,
2021). The use of the term ‘elites’ might not be accepted by civil society actors them-
selves as it can be perceived as too close to some of the rhetoric and criticism of its chal-
lengers. While being aware of this, the term is not used pejoratively here, but as an
analytical category that distinguishes the top CSOs and their leaders from other CSOs
based on resource stratification criteria as done elsewhere (see Altermark et al., 2022;
Lindellee and Scaramuzzino, 2020).
Based on media coverage, websites, parliamentary debates and Charity Commission
records in the UK, I identify two ideologically opposed challengers of civil society
elites: one coming from within the charity sector in the form of the #CharitySoWhite
campaign and another from outside of the charity sector in the form of a politically con-
servative alliance composed of Conservative Members of Parliament (MPs) known as
the Common Sense group. Drawing on the cultural frontlash/backlash theory often used
to account for the success of right-wing populist parties, I argue that the elite-driven and
grassroots-driven contestation – from radically opposed ideological positions – of civil
society elites in the UK is a manifestation of a broader, transnational clash of values
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