The Social Life of a Law: An Ethnography of the Irish Charities Act, 2009

Maguire, Emma (2023) The Social Life of a Law: An Ethnography of the Irish Charities Act, 2009. Doctoral thesis, SETU Waterford.

Text Emma Maguire final 0408 The Social Life of a Law - An ethnography of the Irish Charities Act, 2009.pdf Download (2MB)

Abstract

This study ethnographically explores the creation and the social life of a law, the Irish Charities Act, 2009, (henceforth; the Act) within the broad landscape of increasing NGO1 regulation. The study traces the making of, and the effects of the laws that constitute, organise, regulate and construct the mission and activities of NGOs in Ireland. Regulation of NGOs in Ireland has undergone dramatic and rapid transformation since the Act was passed into law. The provisions of the Act intend to ensure greater accountability in NGOs, making them answerable to the Charities Regulatory Authority (henceforth; CRA), formed in 2014. This research seeks to understand why and how the Act came about, what shape it took on, and how it has become animated in the NGOs, the people who serve in them, and the NGO sector as a whole. The study developed over two distinct phases; (i) the making of the Act, which examines the parliamentary discourses that provoked, shaped and contested the Act and the founding of the CRA, and (ii) the social life of this law, exploring the stories of 18 NGO managers as they describe how increasing regulation interpolates into governance and accountability discourses and lived practices in NGOs. In three papers, I explore theoretical engagements with regulation and accountability, drawing on work from anthropology, philosophy, management and organisation studies, accountability, economic sociology, regulation, and NGO studies, working towards a greater understanding of how regulation affects NGOs, the NGO sector, and wider ideas of charity, described in this thesis as ‘The Gift’ (Mauss, 1954) Paper 1 draws on Actor-network Theory (ANT), specifically Callon’s four moments of translation (1984), to explore the formation of the Act as it increases in its scope, attempting to make all NGOs in Ireland accountable to it. Its long and public gestation saw the formation of complex and unstable networks of contributors and debates, moving around ideas of increased accountability as a mode of normalising corporate accountability practices within NGOs. Paper 2 explores the affective impact of regulation on the regulated, through affect theory, (Massumi, 2002, Ahmed 2006, Seigworth & Gregg, 2010), as the gradual assimilations, resonances, and micro-politics of the still-unfolding Act are becoming articulable for Irish NGO sector managers. Taking the regulation of NGOs as the context, this paper considers affective processes, those ‘outside of conscious awareness that influence ongoing thought, behaviour, and conscious emotional experience’ (Barsade et al., 2009, p. 136), as NGO managers express their feelings towards the Act and how it recomposed their work, the charity sector and how they reconciled the Act with their vision of their career and work identity. Paper 3 speculates how regulation may reorganise economic and social relations in profound ways. In raising these ideas, the paper offers a new perspective to how burgeoning regulatory systems act upon NGOs as transformative forces, not only on the individuals and the organisations they work in, but also on the NGO sector as a whole; on The Gift, and on society. Drawing extensively on the concept of fictitious commodities and embeddedness (Polanyi, 1957), the paper looks beyond the technical aspects of regulation to its effects on the spirit and structures of the sector. This raises the important question as to whether acts of charity are possible after regulation. Keywords: NGOs, regulation, accountability, law, actor-network theory, affect theory, fictitious commodities, embeddedness, The Gift. 1 By using the term NGO to signify the community, voluntary and charity sector, I acknowledge the heterogeneity of legal forms and functions, and dimensions in a sector which by its lack of systemic features avoids creating a cohesive whole. By the term NGO I refer to all and any organisations referred to by authors mentioned in this section who refer to organisations in the sector variously as Third Sector Organisations (TSOs), Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), Non-governmental Organisations (NGOs), or Not-for-profit Organisations (NPOs).

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	NGOs, regulation, accountability, law, actor-network theory, affect theory, fictitious commodities, embeddedness, The Gift
Departments or Groups:	*NONE OF THESE*
Divisions:	School of Business > Department of Management and Organization
Depositing User:	Derek Langford
Date Deposited:	26 Sep 2023 14:45
Last Modified:	26 Sep 2023 14:47
URI:	https://repository.wit.ie/id/eprint/7740

Actions (login required)

View Item