What is it about?

This research explores the emergence of warm spaces as a form of localised welfare provision. We use austerity localism as an analytical framework to explore the broader policy backdrop against which warm spaces emerged. While providing a safe and welcoming environment for attendees, the regressive consequences of austerity localism were evident as the warm space was unable to resist and challenge the hardship and inequalities provoked by the rolling back of the state.

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Why is it important?

Our findings contribute to a growing evidence base demonstrating the impact of welfare state retrenchment on local organisations, which are increasingly compelled to provide essential services traditionally seen as a function of the state.

Perspectives

It was a privilege to engage with the attendees at a warm space and to listen to their experiences of a service which provided essential support against a backdrop of austerity.

Richard Machin
Nottingham Trent University

Warm Spaces highlight both the resilience and vulnerability of communities in times of austerity. On one hand, they showcase how local actors—churches, libraries, community centers, and volunteer groups—step in to meet immediate needs when state support is retrenched. They embody solidarity, creativity, and mutual care. On the other hand, their very necessity exposes a structural failure: that access to warmth, safety, and social connection, which should be basic entitlements, has been devolved to precarious and underfunded local initiatives. This dynamic reflects austerity localism, where responsibility is shifted downward to communities without adequate resources. While Warm Spaces may mitigate hardship, they risk normalizing the withdrawal of state responsibility for welfare and energy security. The challenge is to value the social innovation they represent while also recognizing them as symptomatic of deeper political-economic inequalities. Ahmed Tofik Ali Web of science reasercher https://www.webofscience.com/wos/author/rid/AAO-7223-2020 Web of Science ResearcherID: AAO-7223-2020 ORCiD: 0000-0001-7966-7219

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This page is a summary of: Warm Spaces as a New Manifestation of Austerity Localism, Sociological Research Online, June 2025, SAGE Publications,
DOI: 10.1177/13607804251337631.
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