These slides are from Dr Simon Duffy's keynote and workshop at the National Advocacy Conference in Birmingham, 13th October 2016. He explores the challenge for advocates in an age of austerity and asks whether we need to ask deeper questions about the role of advocacy in advancing citizenship for all.

1. Dr Simon Duffy of the Centre for Welfare Reform on “Citizenship & Advocacy” -
combined slides from keynote and workshop for the National Advocacy Conference
13th October 2016 - Birmingham

2. 1. Where did advocacy come from?
2. How is advocacy coping with austerity?
3. Can we start to focus on citizenship and freedom?
4. What is the true role of the advocate?
5. How should advocates work?
6. Is individual advocacy enough?

5. ?
Who are we?

6. Together we choose
who to include
(and to exclude) and
we choose how we think
about each other.

7. http://bit.ly/unmaking

8. The rise of
the institution

9. Sir Francis Galton (1822-1911)

11. Suzanne Evans
“Inspired by the ideas of scholars like Binding,
Hoche, and Ploetz, Adolf Hitler came to believe that
the future volkish state should aggressively pursue
pro-natalist policies based upon selective breeding
and the eugenic elimination of the unfit in order to
maintain the racial purity of the German state.”

17. • Thought leaders - e.g. Wolfensberger, O’Brien,
Oliver
• Social movements - e.g. self-advocacy,
independent living, supported living
• Civil society developments - e.g. Mencap, People
First

18. http://bit.ly/21Cvision

20. Institutions
are not
constructed
with walls,
but ideas.

21. • Thinking has stopped and
ideology taken over
• Charities have lost their force and
independence
• Government has killed innovation
• The economics of the sector are
unsustainable
Today, our modest progress is
seriously threatened
http://bit.ly/care-crisis

25. The Scotsman, 3rd February 2012
“High-earning migrants and promising student
entrepreneurs will find it easier to work in Britain as
the coalition aims to ensure only “the right people
are coming here”, the Immigration Minister has
said. Damian Green, a Conservative MP, said middle
managers, unskilled labourers and benefit seekers
would be kept out as the coalition seeks only
migrants who “add to the quality of life in Britain.
Damian Green now runs the Department for Work & Pensions
and oversees the Office of Disability Issues.

30. http://bit.ly/counting-cuts

32. Public policy is designed to promote stigma

34. Instead let’s choose to
view each other as
equals and to value
our diverse gifts.

36. What’s wrong with Hayley?
Absolutely nothing.

37. 1 Corinthians 4:7
Who made you different?
What gifts do you have that were not given to you?
Why boast as if you gave gifts to yourself?

38. We can welcome each
other as equal
citizens and celebrate
the diversity of our
communities.

39. This is not just
a question of
attitude;
it’s a political
and practical
question
http://bit.ly/buy-keys

40. To challenge these injustices we need
to advocate for citizenship - and we
need to start acting like citizens.

41. • Danish citizens saved
nearly all Danish Jews
and refugee Jews from
the gas chambers.
• After first hiding them from
the Nazis they then
manned fishing boats and
help them escape to
neutral Sweden.
• This is true citizenship

42. 1. Citizenship means being equal and different
2. Citizenship means having rights and duties
3. Citizenship is something we do - together

43. Saying ‘citizenship’ doesn’t make
it so. Citizenship is constructed
from some essential elements

44. Citizenship is practical and inclusive

45. This is the ‘stuff’ of citizenship by
which we protect our status as equals
1. Finding our sense of purpose
2. Having the freedom to pursue it
3. Having enough money to be free
4. Having a home where we belong
5. Getting help from other people
6. Making life in community
7. Finding, sharing and giving love

47. http://bit.ly/freedom-cfwr

48. 1. Capacity – you must start by assuming I have the ability to be in control
2. Specific – if I can’t make some decisions I might still make others
3. Selection – if I need a representative I should be pick them
4. Suitable – any representative should be right for me and my needs
5. Best Interest – representative must seek to help me achieve my goals
6. Involvement – I always have the right to be involved in decisions
7. Review – all arrangements must be reviewed and improved over time
7 principles of freedom or ‘everyone can be free’
cf. Shropshire’s ‘mental capacity hand’

49. Everybody can be
in control - but
sometimes you’ve
really got to work
hard to make it real.
Wendy Perez

50. • Voice - Wendy’s story
• Control - Michael’s story
• Options - Nan’s story
• Listen - Ryan’s story
• Decisions - Stephen’s story

53. Issues for advocates
1. Are you there to defend the law or to defend justice?
2. Is the law always just?
3. Why is independent (professional) advocacy now the
dominant form of advocacy?
4. What is happening to self-advocacy, peer advocacy,
citizen advocacy, community advocacy?
5. Advocacy arose in response to the injustice of the
institutionalisation - so what is our response to
austerity and the destruction of the welfare state?

54. ?
Who are we?

56. http://bit.ly/peer-power

59. • The battle for citizenship and
lives of meaning goes on.
• Margaret had lived life blighted
by institutional abuse from an
early age.
• She left Lennox Castle Hospital
20 years ago and uses an
Individual Service Fund
managed by Inclusion Glasgow.
• Over time her service evolved
into a wonderful form of shared
living and family life.
• But today Glasgow Social
Services are planning to move
Margaret from her home into a
Nursing Home.

60. NB. Advocates
1. You’re in the citizenship, not the
vulnerability, business
2. Independent advocacy is not a solution; it
can only be a bridge
3. Power comes from community, not from
individual action
4. When the world is unfair we must be careful
not to pander to and legitimise injustice

62. • Where does information and
analysis about injustice come
together?
• How do we empower
individuals, families and
communities to take action
themselves?
• Where do we dream about and
develop a world of justice?

63. 1. Basic Income – time to free ourselves from tyranny of
DWP and liberate citizen action
2. Social Care Reform – time to challenge means-
testing & funding crisis
3. Devolution - time to put back into our local
neighbourhoods with real democratic control and a
fair financial settlement
Some signs of hope… or things worth fighting for

65. q

66. FIND OUT MORE:
www.centreforwelfarereform.org
@CforWR @simonjduffy
https://www.facebook.com/centreforwelfarereform