The Battles to Save the NHSEdition 1

Available open access digitally under a CC-BY-NC-ND license.

NHS activism sits at the heart of some of the most urgent political struggles in Britain today.

Drawing on rich ethnographic insight, this book depicts the NHS as both a public service and a powerful moral reference point. It follows campaigners in Greater Manchester who mobilize against cuts and privatization, raising fundamental questions about what the NHS is and what it means to save it.

Activists draw on shared memories of a more supportive, solidarity-based welfare state to shape their moral opposition to reform. As their visions of the NHS clash with political and managerial agendas, they forge and reforge collective memories, political identities and social solidarities in the fight to defend public care.