"Charity Speak and Business Talk". The on-going (re)hybridization of Civil Society.
This is one of the chapters in the edited volume "Nordic Civil Society at a Cross-Roads. Transforming the Popular Movement Tradition" (eds. Wijkström & Zimmer; Nomos 2011).
For more information about the book from the publisher, please visit:
http://www.civil-society.nomos.de/volumes/volume-12/
Abstract: This chapter paints a broad picture of the transformations that the Nordic civil societies and their... more Abstract: This chapter paints a broad picture of the transformations that the Nordic civil societies and their organizations are currently undergoing by putting the present developments into historical perspective. Focusing throughout the discussion on the two fundaments on which civil society rests – its organizations and its people – I analyze the ways in which these are presently changing character and opening up to new ways of organizing. The century-long dominance of popular movement organizations is seen to be giving way to a more heterogeneous flora of organizational forms, where provision of services – as opposed to (traditionally strong) advocacy – is gradually gaining importance. The long-marginalized 19th century tradition of charity is observed to re-emerge as a legitime practice of civil society in the 21st century. At the same time, and after having during much of the 20th century looked to the welfare state for inspiration and partnerships, Nordic civil society organizations are today increasingly turning towards the business sphere. They are borrowing organizational models and internalizing patterns of thought that originate in the world of corporations. Together, these developments are suggested to lead to a new wave of re-hybridization of the Nordic civil societies and their organizations.