There is such thing as a society

Expert opinion from University of Auckland - Waipapa Taumata Rau

Margaret Thatcher famously stated in 1987 that “there’s no such thing as society”, arguing instead, that “there are individual men and women and there are families”.

This claim rang sharply in my mind as I read our new Government’s plans for the next three years. Our first official three party coalition appears to have a similar individualistic view of Aotearoa, outlining a future that John Campbell described as “mean”, “limp” and “deeply regressive”.

As a geographer who studies public libraries and other places often described as “social infrastructure”, I see this as an important moment to take stock.

Across the globe, under similar conservative government agendas, it is often publicly funded services that provide space for community, and support our most marginal populations that are made increasingly vulnerable. 

As occurred in the United Kingdom during its years of austerity following the 2008 financial crisis; between 2010 and 2019 almost 800 public libraries were privatised or closed, as were a raft of associated facilities, services and community spaces. 

The various ways these spaces were relied upon by their local communities — for access to everyday facilities like bathrooms and charging facilities, specific language and cultural events, spaces for children to play and learn, formal advocacy or support services, and wifi or computer access — was often not fully understood until the buildings were already closed.

Local public services here in Aotearoa under the last Labour government may have been somewhat sheltered from the worst of the cuts occurring globally under widespread austerity measures during the 2010s. Any of that cushioning is likely to disappear under the new Government. 

We will need to be prepared to fight for the ongoing survival of our public services so they can continue to do their vital everyday work, such as libraries providing free and equitable access to knowledge and services to people across Aotearoa.

Yet, I believe these spaces also have a more direct role to play in resisting this turn to the right currently unfolding at the national level. Libraries — and many other public services — are managed and funded predominantly by local councils. As my colleagues in the School of Environment have argued, the local governance arena has been long overlooked for its radical potential to reshape our everyday lives.

Some political actions recently taken at different levels of local government that split from this coalition’s agenda include a handful of local boards (beginning with the Waiheke Local Board) calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, prior to support of this from Parliament.

The number of Green Party MPs elected in central urban districts across the motu this year suggests that a desire for progressive politics is emerging from many of our cities. Closely connected to this I see local government, and their locally administered services as potential spaces of resistance to the narratives emerging from our new Government.

The main question I want to posit here is this: what work is it that we can help these spaces do over these next three years?

There are a number of international examples we might look towards that offer various directions in which to mobilise energy and action.

In the USA during Trump’s presidency, numerous cities (and their associated public services) operated in opposition to federal mandates, sometimes as formalised “sanctuary cities”, offering support and protection to many made vulnerable by that government.  

In Australia, as well as offering space with air conditioning that provides comfort to many individuals and families across the year, many public libraries have offered space to youth climate action groups, to give them a place to meet and strategise.

Here in Aotearoa in our current moment I see locally organised spaces such as the public library as particularly useful in ongoing efforts to support the public sustenance of te reo Māori, in opposition to the rolling back being attempted from Wellington.

These attempts to build and sustain energy from spaces embedded in community can emerge through social infrastructural spaces in a variety of ways.

This could be done formally, through the ongoing co-location of different services alongside libraries or similar spaces. The vital role the Citizen’s Advice Bureau plays in communicating knowledge of rights and obligations to New Zealanders across the country is a prime example of this. Recent attempts within Auckland Council to stop funding its co-location with libraries in Auckland, and resistance to this, drew significant attention to the breadth of important work they do.

The library can – and already does – formally incorporate a large number of initiatives on top of its everyday work to support local communities. For example, the Auckland Central Library has continued to run a number of services to support unhoused people that call this city home. Financial support for these formal initiatives could be extended.

It is a useful time to embrace the potential of these spaces. Centering them in our lives offers a local, but nationally networked approach to building, maintaining and sustaining community.

You might even call this type of organisation – a society!