'It doesn’t always do justice to people’: Neoliberalism’s Reorganization of Social Service Delivery in Ontario

Guided by institutional ethnography and labour process theory, this project explores the ways in which the discourses and practices of neoliberal austerity organize the work experiences of frontline social service providers and workers’ various forms of resistance to this restructuring. Managerialist practices of accreditation and evidence-based practice appear to reorient service provision away from relational, social justice oriented work and community building, redistributing workers’ time and energy to administrative practices involved in assessments, evaluations, and performance measurements. These ongoing changes take a toll on worker mental wellbeing and present challenges to the sustainability of social service provision by increasing workloads and limiting workers’ access to support. While these changes in work processes present some challenges in workers’ relationships with management and one another, they also open up new spaces to demonstrate solidarity and to work together to resist the neoliberalization of the sector.