Grenfell Tower and Stakeholder Activism : A Case Study

Stakeholder engagement involves actively soliciting the opinions and values of different groups affected by decisions, often through deliberative means, to shape decision implementation. As with many practices within public management and governance, instances of exemplary stakeholder engagement are somewhat rare, particularly in the face of near universal acceptance that increased stakeholder engagement enhances decision making. This is hardly surprising considering the complexity of building consensus between contradictory interests, particularly within the context of limited resources, time constraints, changing priorities, population mobility, obstacles to effective communication, bias, unequal power relationship and a lack of motivation or incentives for inclusive decision making. Following the Grenfell Tower fire a variety of organisations emerged to support affected stakeholders in raising awareness and pursue justice on behalf of bereaved families. This article examines how such organisations have been used to raise awareness, draw attention to a justice-based agenda and, ultimately, to leverage change