The Citizen-Consumer as Industrial Relations Actor: New Ways of Working and the End-User in Social Care

Abstract

This article explores the role of the citizen-consumer as an actor in public service industrial relations. Based on research into the New Types of Worker programme in social care, the article considers how new work roles engage end-users as citizen-consumers in work relations and their consequences for stakeholders. It highlights the forms assumed by these roles and the factors influencing their development and impact, concluding that if the citizen-consumer is to be treated as an actor in industrial relations, researchers must show greater sensitivity to the categories of end-users and to the service context.