The Centre for Civil Society was founded in October 1999 as a research and teaching unit within the Department of Social Policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science (United Kingdom). It used to be the Centre for Voluntary Organisation, which pioneered the study of the organisation and management of voluntary agencies and non-governmental development organisations. The new Centre will remain at the forefront of this rapidly growing field in terms of research, teaching, policy analysis, and professional education, while expanding its international presence, focus and range of activities. 

 The Centre for Civil Society seeks to improve understanding of the set of organisations located between the market, the state and household institutions that are variously referred to as non-governmental, voluntary, non-profit, or third-sector organisations, foundations, and social enterprises. These institutions are part of a wider civil society and form a social economy of private organisations serving public purposes.

Contact Details 

Address:          

London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)

Houghton Street

WC2A 2AE London

UNITED KINGDOM                               

Tel.:  

+ 44 20 79 55 67 54

Fax.:   

+ 44 20 79 55 74 15                    
E-mail:         j.lewis@lse.ac.uk

Web-page:       

http://www.lse.ac.uk

About Jane Lewis, National Co-ordinator CINEFOGO, United Kingdom

 from London School of Economics

Professor Jane Lewis from London School of Economics and Political Science (United Kingdom) is primarily interested in the place of the voluntary sector in modern welfare states  and the boundaries between the third sector and the public sector. She is interested in the notion of a separate “third sector” in relation to service provision and the promotion of third sector service provision, which is at odds with the role of voluntary organizations in “building communities”. Jane Lewis is also interested in new institutional forms of service delivery in modern welfare states. She is interested in the involvement of citizens in  decision-making and the possible conditions that should be placed on the voluntary sector in order to strike the right balance between community-building, accountability and efficiency. Jane Lewis addresses the added value of the third sector and questions the enhanced role for third sector provision, as opposed to modifying the role of the public sector.

In recent years, she has published about, co-authored and edited publications about family, gender relations, social politics and welfare, also from a comparative perspective.

 About Nicholas Deakin

from London School of Economics

Nicholas Deakin is Visiting Professor at the Centre for Civil Society of the London School of Economics and Political Science (United Kingdom). He is a member of the Local Governance Programme Committee and he chairs the ESRC Qualidata Archive Advisory Committee.

He has served on various ESRC Committees and has acted as Scientific Advisor to the Department of Health.  In addition, he has been Governor of the Royal Institute of Public Administration and the Family Policy Studies Centre and a member of the Executive of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations.

 Nicholas Deakin has, among others, chaired the National Association of Councils of Voluntary Service, the West Midlands Standing Committee on the Single Homeless and the Quest Millennium Award scheme. He has chaired the Social Policy Association and the Social Policy Committee of the Joint Universities Council. He has been appointed CBE in recognition of his work as a chair of the NCVO’s Commission of Inquiry into the Future of Voluntary Action. Nicholas Deakin has held various research grants from the SSRC/ESRC, public and private entities and he lectures regularly to public and voluntary sector audiences. 

He has authored, edited and contributed to publications on colour and citizenship, welfare policy, urban policy, social policy and exclusion, contracting and civil society, and government policy with emphasis on public services and welfare.  

About Jeremy Kendall

from London School of Economics

Dr Jeremy Kendall is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Civil Society and Personal Social Services Research Unit at London School of Economics and Political Science (United Kingdom) and he is visiting Lecturer at the Economics Department at the University of Liège (Belgium). Mr. Kendall is a member of the board of the International Society for Third-Sector Research (ISTR). He participates in major research projects on Mixed Economy of Social Care/Commissioning & Performance, a rolling programme of research founded by UK Department of Health, and the John Hopkins Comparative Non-Profit Sector Project. In addition he is the co-ordinator and UK Partner of the EU founded project, Third Sector European Policy, and he is the UK participant in the CIRIEC research network.

 Jeremy Kendall has edited publications on third sector policy and on the contract culture in public services. He has written about the Voluntary Sector and has as among others co-authored articles about employment in non-profit organisations.