‘Dear Oxfam’: consumer-supporter-activism, NGO accountability and the boundaries of the political in the Barclays boycott, 1970-1991

ABSTRACT

This article is about complaint-making as a form of political participation in the NGO sector. It focuses on public scrutiny of Oxfam’s use of Barclays Bank during the anti-apartheid boycott of the bank in the 1970s and 1980s and analyses pro-boycott and anti-boycott correspondence to Oxfam during this period. The article uses the Barclays boycott case to illustrate the dynamics of public-institution relationships during a period in which the NGO sector rapidly expanded and professionalised. It argues that not all donors favoured shallow or passive relationships with the NGOs that they supported. In this example, donors mobilised as a distinct type of ‘consumer-supporter-activist’. Finally, the article shows how the Barclays controversy stimulated public debate around the ideal boundaries between the ‘charitable’ and the ‘political’. It argues that apartheid South Africa stimulated far greater public engagement on this issue than other areas of Oxfam’s work.

KEYWORDS:

• Consumer activism
• complaint
• non-governmental organisations
• charity
• anti-apartheid

Acknowledgement

This research was supported by a Bodleian Library Sassoon Fellowship. I would like thank Richard Huzzey, Charlotte Lydia Riley and the anonymous peer reviews for their constructive comments on drafts of the article. I’d also like to thank Agnieszka Sobocinska and the attendees of the workshop on Humanitarianism and International Development in Melbourne where this research got its first airing and lots of helpful feedback.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. ”Think Globally”, New Internationalist, 5 June 1986.

2. Burkett,”'Don’t Bank on Apartheid’”; John, ”The Campaign Against British Bank Involvement in Apartheid South Africa”; Fieldhouse, Anti-Apartheid; Skinner, ‘‘Every Bite Buys a Bullet”; Skovgaard, ”Subpolitics and the Campaign against Barclays”; Thörn, Anti-Apartheid.

3. ”Remember When Oxfam Took on Winston Churchill”, blog post, Oxfam https://oxfamblogs.org/fp2p/remember-when-oxfam-took-on-winston-churchill-apartheid-the-labour-government-big-pharma-and-the-pesticides-industry/ [accessed 15 Nov 2019]

4. Black, A Cause for our Times, p.251.

5. ”Oxfam Leading from Behind”, New Internationalist, 5 March 1986.

6. Baughan and Fiori, “Save the Children”.

7. There has been some quantitative work on complaints to charities. This focuses on their fundraising tactics rather than campaigning work. See Sargeant, Hudson & Wilson, “Donor Complaints About Fundraising”.

8. Though Oxfam recorded receiving more than 400 letters, only a proportion have survived. They are included in the following files across two different Oxfam departments: Bodelian Library, Ms.Oxfam, DIR/2/3/2 Fol.3; COM-3-1-2 Fol.5; COM/3/1/3 Fol.1; and COM/3/1/10 Fol.9. I have referred to the letter writers by their initials rather than full names throughout.

9. NGOs made increasing use of market research from the 1980s onwards. Qualitative surveys were common by the 2000s. For a summary of key findings, see Darnton and Kink Finding Frames. On the limitations of existing surveying techniques see Hudson and van Heerde-Hudson. ‘”A Mile Wide and an Inch Deep”’.

10. Ball and Holliday, ”Conservative Party Activists and Immigration Policy”; Branch, ”Public Letters”; Fitzpatrick, ”Supplicants and Citizens”; Huzzey and Miller, ”Petitions, Parliament and Political Culture”; Miller, Nation of Petitioners; Whipple, ”Revisiting the 'Rivers of Blood' Controversy”; Wonders, ”Please Say More”; Gay, ”MPs Go Back to their Constituents”. Thanks also to Charlotte Lydia Riley for discussions about her research on hate mail to MPs.

11. Turow, “Another View of 'Citizen Feedback'”.

12. Fitzpatrick, ”Supplicants and Citizens”.

13. E.W. to Oxfam, c.1971 Ms. Oxfam DIR/2/3/2 Fol.3, Bodleian Library, University of Oxford; M.J. to Oxfam, c.1985 Ms. Oxfam COM/3/1/2 Fol.5.

14. Miewald and Comer, “The Complaint Function of Government”; Henry, ”Complaint-Making”.

15. Branch, “Public Letters”, p.340.

16. Whipple, ”Revisiting the 'Rivers of Blood' Controversy”.

17. On protest repertoires see Tilly, Repertoires of Contention.

18. Stanyer ”Political attitude expression”.

19. Fieldhouse, Anti-Apartheid, pp.75–6.

20. On trust and NGOs see Hilton, “Politics is Ordinary”.

21. Hirschman, Exit, Voice, Loyalty, p.1.

22. For a discussion of the literature on decline see Hilton et al, The Politics of Expertise, pp.37–52.

23. This is a large field, but see, for example, Anderson, Fair Trade; Bostrom, Micheletti and Oosterveer, eds. Oxford Handbook of Political Consumption; Glickman, Buying Power; Hilton, Consumerism in Twentieth-Century Britain.

24. Sasson, “Milking the Third World?”, p.1197.

25. van Dam, ”Moralizing Postcolonial Consumer Society”; Sasson, ”Milking the Third World?”.

26. Cited in O’Sullivan, ”The Search for Justice”, p.175.

27. Anderson, A History of Fair Trade. See chpt. 1.

28. Skovgaard, “Subpolitics”, p.37.

29. Andresen, Jutske and Siegfried, “Introduction” in Apartheid and Anti-Apartheid in Western Europe, pp.12–13.

30. Skinner, “Humanitarianism and Human Rights”, p.55.

31. Skinner, Foundations of Anti-Apartheid, pp.157–168.

32. John, ”The Campaign Against British Bank Involvement”, pp.418–420.

33. Möckel, ”Material Culture of Human Rights”, p.91; John, ”The Campaign Against”, p.424.

34. B. Manning to Oxfam, 9^th April 1975, Bodleian, AAM 894.

35. Möckel, “Material Culture of Human Rights”, p.91.

36. B. Manning to Oxfam, 9^th April 1975, Bodleian, AAM 894.

37. Referenced in letter from Arthur and Connie Page to Mike Terry, 19^th December 1984, Bodleian, AAM 894.

38. Roddy, Strange, and Taithe, The Charity Market.

39. Field, “Consumption in Lieu of Membership”.

40. Möckel, “The Material Culture of Human Rights”.

41. See, for example, Richey and Ponte. “Better (Red)™ than Dead?”; Müller, ”'The Ethiopian famine' Revisited”.

42. On cost-of-exit see Jordan and Maloney, The Protest Business.

43. P.A. to Oxfam, 29 October 1985, Ms.Oxfam COM/3/1/2 Fol.5.

44. B.M. to Guy Stringer, 2 October 1985 Ms.Oxfam COM/3/1/2 Fol.5.

45. Whipple, ”Revisiting the 'Rivers of Blood' Controversy”; on unpolitics see Emily Robinson, ”The Politics of Unpolitics”.

46. C.W.C to Oxfam, 6^th January 1975, MS. Oxfam DIR/2/3/2 Fol.3.

47. Skinner, Foundations of Anti-Apartheid.

48. Fieldhouse, Anti-Apartheid, pp.89–90.

49. G.S and L.K.M to Oxfam Directors, No date, c.November 1979. MS. Oxfam DIR/2/3/2 Fol.3.

50. J.S. (unclear spelling) c.1970 to Oxfam, MS. Oxfam DIR/2/3/2 Fol.3.

51. Slim, Humanitarian Ethics, pp.7–8.

52. Discussion in Leebaw, “Justice, Charity, or Alibi?”. See also Sikkink, The Justice Cascade.

53. O’Sullivan, “The Search for Justice”; Bell and Carens, ”Ethical Dilemmas”, p.324; Vestergaard, ”Humanitarian Appeal” p.445.

54. Leather, “Trade Union and NGO Relations”, p.15.

55. Bruce to Bill Yates, 2 November 1986, Ms. Oxfam, CPN/4/3/15 Folder 1.

56. Hilton, “Politics is Ordinary”, p.261; Gaskin, ”Blurred Vision”.

57. Taithe, “Demotic Humanitarians”, p.1784.

58. O’Sullivan, “The Search for Justice”.

59. Letters from Ms.Oxfam, DIR/2/3/2 Fol.3 and COM-3-1-2 Fol.5.

60. M.K and J.M. to Oxfam, 20 May 1970, Ms.Oxfam, DIR/2/3/2 Fol.3.

61. R.W. to Oxfam, 19 February 1985, Ms. Oxfam, COM/3/1/2 Fol. 5.

62. R.M. to Oxfam, 28 August 1984, Ms. Oxfam, COM/3/1/2 Fol. 5.

63. J.M.P to Oxfam, 14 April 1973, Ms. Oxfam DIR/2/3/2 Fol.3.

64. L.W. to Oxfam, 25 September 1985, Ms. Oxfam, COM/3/1/2 Fol. 5; P.B. to Oxfam, 2 January 1984, Ms. Oxfam COM/3/1/2 Fol. 5.

65. O’Sullivan, “Search for Justice”, p.2.

66. S.K. to Oxfam, 29 July 1984, Ms. Oxfam COM/3/1/2 Fol. 5.

67. P.W. to Oxfam, 21 December 1983, Ms. Oxfam COM/3/1/2 Fol. 5.

68. A.G. to Oxfam, 17 November c.1985, Ms. Oxfam COM/3/1/2 Fol. 5.

69. R.W. to Oxfam, 19 February 1985, Ms. Oxfam COM/3/1/2 Fol. 5.

70. O’Sullivan, ”Search for Justice”.

71. Open Letter to Oxfam staff from Penelope Cloutte, Haslemere Group, c1975, Ms. Oxfam, DIR/2/3/2 Fol.3.

72. Whipple, ”Revisiting the 'Rivers of Blood' Controversy”; Thompson and Sharma, ”Secularization, moral regulation and the mass media”.

73. Gurney, “The Anti-Apartheid Movement’s Difficult Decade”.

74. MB Ronaldson to Mr Goodenough (Barclays local Director—long-term contact) 9 June 1971 MS. Oxfam DIR2/3/2/3.

75. M. B. Ronaldson to Barbara Dempsey, 14 July 1970, MS. Oxfam, DIR/2/3/2 Fol.3.

76. M.B Ronaldson to R.J. Wilson, 6 August 1975, Ms. Oxfam DIR/2/3/2 Fol.3.

77. Black, A Cause for Our Times, p.244.

78. Frank Judd to Andrew Phillips, 26 November 1985, Ms. Oxfam, DIR/2/3/6/33.

79. Working Group Summary Report, 1985. Ms. Oxfam, COM/3/1/3/1.

80. Rugendyke, ”Lilliputians or leviathans”, p.8.

81. Skinner, ”Every bite buys a bullet”, p. 99.

82. Black, Cause for Our Times, pp.245–48.

83. Black, Cause for OutrTimes, p.250.

84. Sam Clarke to Bernadette Vallely, 22 May 1984, Bodleian, AAM894.

85. Oxfam, Barclays Bank and South Africa, Confidential, November 1985 MS. Oxfam, COM/3/1/3 Fol.1.

86. Observer, 30 November 1986

87. Gurney, “The 1970s”.

88. Gurney, “The 1970s”, p.471.

89. Working Group Summary Report, 1985. Ms. Oxfam, COM/3/1/3/1.

90. Fieldhouse, Anti-Apartheid, pp.75, 181.

91. Memo Re: Barclays Withdrawal from South Africa, 24 November 1986, Ms. Oxfam, CPN/4/3/15 Fol. 1.

92. Frank Judd memo 29 October 1985, Ms. Oxfam, DIR/2/3/6/33.

93. Nerys, “The Campaign Against British Bank Involvement”, p.424.

94. New Internationalist, 5 March 1986.

95. Working Group Summary Report, 1985. Ms. Oxfam, COM/3/1/3/1.

96. Müller, ‘”The Ethiopian famine”’, p.62.

97. Black, Cause for Our Times, p.165.

98. Sam Clarke, Memorandum “Barclays Complaints”, 30 October 1985, Ms. Oxfam, DIR/2/3/6/33.

99. Burnell, “Charity Law”.

100. 1982 Report, Ms. Oxfam, CPN/4/3/15.

101. Skinner, “Humanitarianism and Human Rights”, p.40.

102. Oxfam Newsletter, May 1986, Ms. Oxfam, COM/3/1/10 Fol. 9.

103. Smith, Namibia: A Violation of Trust, Oxfam Public Affairs Unit, 1986, chapter 3.

104. Memo ‘Public Education and Campaigning on Southern Africa 1990–91’, 23 May 1989, MS. Oxfam, CPN/4/2/22 Fol.2

105. Phil Baker to Bill Yates, 2 November 1986, Ms. Oxfam, CPN/4/3/15 Folder 1.

106. Letter from Oxfam to Andrew Phillips Esq. 8^th February 1987. Ms. Oxfam, CPN/4/3/15 Folder 2.

107. Smith, Front Line Africa: The Right to a Future, Oxfam.

108. Brown and Yaffe, “Non-stop against apartheid”.

109. Briefing Paper: Oxfam and Sanctions, Prepared by Southern Africa Working Group 16 September 1986, Ms. Oxfam, CPN/4/3/15 Folder 2.

110. J.S. (unclear spelling) c.1970 to Oxfam, Ms. Oxfam, DIR/2/3/2 Fol.3.

111. Peter Coleridge to John Clark 16 February 1984 Ms. Oxfam CPN/4/3/4 Folder 1.

112. Smith, “More than Altruism”, p.326.

113. ‘Barclays Bank Letters’, 10 January 1986, Ms. Oxfam COM/3/1/3 Fol.1. While Oxfam recorded all those received, only a sample of these remain within the archive.

114. Ibid.

115. ‘The Links Between Apartheid and Poverty’ advertisement clipping, Ms. Oxfam, COM/3/1/10 Fol.9.

116. Ms. Oxfam, COM/3/1/10 Fol.9 Only a sample of responses were saved by Oxfam.

117. On local manifestations of this see Moores, ”RAGE Against the 1Obscene”.

118. See, for example, Dubow ”New approaches to high apartheid”; Major, ”Patrick Wall and South Africa”; Fieldhouse, Anti-Apartheid.

119. Frank Judd to Leslie Kirkley, 5 August 1985 Ms. Oxfam, DIR/2/3/6/33.

120. Andrew Philips to Frank Judd, 15 October 1985, Ms. Oxfam, DIR/2/3/6/33.

121. Daily Telegraph, 10 October 1983. Similar articles also ran in the Mail on Sunday and Daily Star

122. Smith, More Than Altruism, p.224.

123. Durham and Power, “Transnational Conservatism”, pp.133–148.

124. Burnell, “Charity Law”.

125. Annotated leaflets sent by P von Wielish, c.1986, Ms. Oxfam, COM/3/1/10 Fol. 9.

126. Moores, “Thatcher’s troops?”, p.231.

127. T.S. to Oxfam, 18 July 1986, Ms. Oxfam, COM/3/1/10 Fol.9.

128. R.S.N to Oxfam, 21 June 1986, Ms. Oxfam, COM/3/1/10 Folder 9.

129. E.P.H. to Oxfam Chairman, 29 May 1986, Ms. Oxfam, COM/3/1/10 Folder 9.

130. B.P. to Oxfam, 20 July 1986, Ms. Oxfam, COM/3/1/10 Fol.9.

131. Black, Cause for Our Times, p.245.

132. O’Sullivan, ”Civil War in El Salvador”.

133. Black, Cause for Our Times, p.254; O’Sullivan, “Civil War in El Salvador”.

134. Dubow, ”New Approaches”.

135. J.R.S. to Director of Oxfam, 19 July 1986, Ms. Oxfam, COM/3/1/10 Folder 9.

136. M.S.B.(spelling unclear), Nov. 1986 Ms. Oxfam, COM/3/1/10 Folder 9.

137. See for example Muller, ”The Ethiopian Famine Revisited”, p.75.

138. Notes of phone calls received, 25 November 1986, Ms. Oxfam, COM3/1/3 Fol.1.

139. Dubow, ”New Approaches”, pp.313–4; Schwarz, White Man’s World.

140. M.L.B. to Oxfam, 18 October 1986, Ms. Oxfam, COM/3/1/10 Folder 9.

141. T.E.S. to Mr. Bryer, 14 July 1986, Ms. Oxfam, COM/3/1/10 Folder 9.

142. J.B. to Oxfam, 18 July 1986, Ms. Oxfam, COM/3/1/10 Folder 9.

143. T.S to Directors of Oxfam, 18 July 1986, Ms. Oxfam, COM/3/1/10 Folder 9.

144. Dubow, “New Approaches”, p.322.

145. Working Party Report: Barclays Bank, p.16, Ms. Oxfam, DIR/2/3/6/33.

146. Oxfam’s Public Education and Campaigning Programme: A Memorandum Prepared by Oxfam’s Trustees in Response to an Inquiry initiated by the Charity Commission, Oxfam, October 1990. p.27.

147. South Africa Working Group Minutes, 20 January 1987 Ms. Oxfam CPN/4/3/15/2.

148. Müller, “The Long Shadow”, p.470.

149. Hilton et al, Politics of Expertise, p.200.

150. Working Party Report—Future Relationship of Oxfam and Barclays Bank, 18 October 1985, p.27, Ms. Oxfam, DIR/2/3/6/33.

151. Whitaker, Bridge of People, p.130.

152. Hilton, “Politics is Ordinary”, p.259.

153. Taylor and Perri 6, “Membership in Voluntary Organisations” Cited in Lansley, ‘Membership, Participation, p.223.

154. Zarnegar Deloffre, “Global Accountability”; Hilton, ”NGO Aid Appraisal”.

155. Sargeant and Lee, “Donor Trust”, p.185.