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‘They Should have been Looking after People for a Long Time’: Human Giving and Generosity During COVID-19, in Austerity Britain

Lookup NU author(s): Professor Alison PhippsORCiD

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic mobilised a multitude of acts of giving and generosity. This article provides a snapshot of giving and generosity among a small sample of individuals in the UK, in a context following years of ungenerous austerity politics. Giving and generous actions played a crucial role in mitigating the negative effects of COVID and we report on data collected using in-depth interviews to understand experiences of giving and generosity. We conceptualise giving and generosity as pro-social or other-focused actions that involve sharing of resources, underpinned by a crossing of the hyphen between self and other. This article explores the ways in which participants were mobilised by perceived social and political injustices and thus we offer a different understanding of giving and generosity as micro-activism that is done with a critical eye turned towards the macro context.

Publication metadata

Author(s): McDonnell L, Clarke A, Phipps A

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: Sociological Research Online

Year: 2024

Volume: 30

Issue: 1

Pages: 43-58

Print publication date: 01/03/2025

Online publication date: 19/04/2024

Acceptance date: 08/02/2024

Date deposited: 01/05/2024

ISSN (electronic): 1360-7804

Publisher: Sage Publications Ltd.

URL: https://doi.org/10.1177/13607804241235715

DOI: 10.1177/13607804241235715

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