Refleksiv institusjonalisering. Nytt frivillig engasjement i brytningen mellom endring og stabilitet

In this chapter I explore how collective action is initiated, mobilized and organized in light of trends of more individualized and reflexive forms of volunteering in Norway. By conducting a qualitative case-study of the climate-based Transition-initiative in Bergen, Norway, I have illustrated how general trends in volunteering are manifested on the local level, shaped by institutionalized frames of action, but also open for interpretative flexibility. Adaptation to reflexive and self-oriented volunteers in Transition entailed a decentralized, informal, flexible, network- and neighborhood-based mode of organizing collective action, focusing on the volunteers’ and participants’ personal interests and resources and the surrounding social and physical infrastructure. A prerequisite behind this organizational form were paid positions for coordinating, administrating and “nudging” volunteers and their activities to fit the organization’s objective. A certain degree of formalization and institutionalization due to organizational growth has also been necessary over the course of the years. Contradicting expectations from the theory of reflexive volunteering of attenuated organizational identities and social bonds in organizations, the Transition-initiative indicated the opposite, aiming at building a community-based organization. Albeit being locally focused, the initiative was inspired by global issues and is also connected to the international Transition movement, and is also a political actor on the national level. In order to analytically describe the Transition-initiative I propose the concept of reflexive institutionalization, referring to an organizational adaptation to reflexive forms of volunteering simultaneous to an inevitable process of institutionalizing some form of organizational structure if a sustainable (network-) organization is to be built.

Flyktningengasjement i sosiale medier. Et mediepraksisperspektiv på flyktningsituasjonen i 2015

This chapter is based on a quantitative study of Norwegians’ social media engagement for helping refugees in Norway in 2015, and how this was related to other acts and forms of help. I argue for and utilize a social and practice oriented media-perspective in which I conceptualize social media as practice and connected to other forms of practice in the social space. I find that social media, Facebook in particular, was part of disseminating attention and engagement for helping refugees rapidly all over Norway. As such, Facebook manifested itself as an infrastructure for the mobilization and organizing of volunteer contributions during the refugee situation. However, the scope of social media-assisted volunteer contributions was relatively small compared to the contributions through established voluntary organizations. Likewise, the established media-channels were also more important than social media for the spread of information on how to contribute. Based on this study, I claim that social media as an infrastructure for the mobilization and organizing of volunteer contributions serves a supplemental, albeit important function compared to established infrastructures. Social media supplement the established media and voluntary organizations by increasing the speed and geographical scope of mobilizing and organizing collective action.

Demokratisering av deltakelse gjennom sosiale medier. Sosial ulikhet i nordmenns digitale samfunnsengasjement

Based on representative survey-data, this chapter is concerned with analyzing the potential democratic effects of social media on civic engagement and collective action. We investigate to what degree and how social differences with regard to age, gender, educational background and geographical centrality are expressed in digital forms of civic action: information consumption and triggering of political interest, membership in political Facebook-groups, digital expression of opinions, and digital voluntary work. Previous research and theories are inconclusive with regard to increasing or decreasing social divides in digital participation, depending on the particular personal characteristic and type of digital civic action. Our analyses show that younger persons are more active than older persons in many of the participatory forms. Like many previous studies, we find a certain reproduction of classical gender differences in which men are more active than women. Education is also found to reproduce the classical differences in which more education is connected to higher levels of participation. We also find that centrality of residence differentiates activity levels in certain forms of digital civic action. On the basis of our analyses we claim that the democratic effects of digitalization on civic participation, in the form of reducing classical divides in which groups are active and which groups are passive, are limited. While digital technologies have created many new possibilities for civic action, participation and engagement is still structured by resources, personal traits and social position.

Nye former for samfunnsengasjement og kollektiv handling

This chapter introduces the book’s main topics and analytical frame. With the development of societal meta-processes of change such as digitalization, individualization and globalization, the condition of collective action are under transformation. The main question, addressed by this book, is whether a new form of collective action – connective action – can be empirically identified when looking at the late developments in Norway. The need for formal organizations and selective incentives has been emphasized as a solution to the “collective action problem”. Digitalization, by enabling “organizing without organizations” is expected to enhance new forms of collective action that are more individualized and do not require formal organizations. Additionally, since digital networks cross territorial boundaries, collective action is expected to take a transnational character. With such a backdrop, the contributions assembled in this book, based on extensive empirical investigations, examine the extent to which digitalization transforms civic engagement, whether the boundary between volunteerism and political activism are becoming increasingly blurred, whether new organizing forms are emerging in the wake of digitalization, and whether it is possible to identify new forms of transnational collective action. Taken together, the contributions to this book do not support the emergence of a new form of collective action. On the contrary, in spite of the transformations affecting the forms of collective action and civic engagement, the empirical evidence emphasize the continued importance of the infrastructure constituted of civil society organizations for supporting collective action.

Forholdet mellom online- og offline-deltakelse i frivillige organisasjoner

In this chapter the relationship between online and offline civic engagement. We look specifically at the effect of being a member of a Facebook group related to voluntary organizations or to different types of protest on offline membership in voluntary organization and offline volunteering. Using panel-data from a three-wave survey of the Norwegian population using the Internet we test three hypotheses about the relationship between online and offline civic engagement. According to the mobilization-hypothesis, online experience will enhance offline participation of those who are inactive. The crowding-out hypothesis predicts that, since those who are engaged offline will also be the one who are engaged online, increased online engagement will reduce offline engagement. Finally, the independence-hypothesis considers online and offline engagement as not related to each other. Our results show that, in Norway during the period 2012–2016, following Facebook-groups related to a voluntary organization or to different types of protest groups has an impact on offline membership in voluntary organizations, but not on voluntary work. An important exception, however, is that following a Facebook group related to a voluntary organization has a positive effect on offline volunteering in voluntary organization.

På Facebook for flyktninger. En casestudie av Refugees Welcome-nettverket i Norge

Based on interviews with seven leaders and key figures in six different initiatives across the country, the chapter analyses the emergence and development of the Refugees Welcome-initiative in Norway. The aim of the study is to gain insight into the groups’ transformation from loose digital networks to becoming more or less formal organizations, providing a unique approach to understand the emergence and development of a social movement. By using a multi-dimensional approach, the study analyses how political opportunity structures, cultural framing and mobilizing structures—and the interaction between them—contributed to the emergence, rapid growth and development of RW. The chapter highlights the opportunities and challenges of a decentralized and informal organizational form, and how the potential of digitalization is conditioned by both internal needs for control and oversight, and external (legal) requirements and expectations.

Nasjonale organisasjoners bruk av sosiale medier. Muligheter og barrierer for bruk

In this chapter, we investigate the ways in which national voluntary organizations have employed new digital media. We study in particular whether digitization seems to enable new organizational forms; if it contributes to new ways in which organizations can engage members and volunteers; and how the new digital media can contribute to, for example, public debate. We ask if organizations differ in such use, and whether certain types of organizations are more likely to use new forms of communication, both to inform members and to participate in the public. For instance, do organizations that were established after the rise of social media (digital natives) use new media differently than older organizations? Secondly, we investigate what kinds of barriers that can prevent the use of social media by such organizations Our findings initially point out that the use of internet and social media largely permeates all types of organizations in Norway, but that there are important differences between different organizations. Furthermore, we identify different dimensions in terms of the use of social media, with clear distinctions between public activities on the one hand and activity directed at members on the other. Finally, we find that a lack of resources is the main causal factor when it comes to the organizations that not use social media.

Nye former for tilhørighet. Migrantorganisasjoner for barn og ungdom i en norsk sivilsamfunnskontekst

The traditional Scandinavian voluntary sector model is under pressure. The aim of this chapter is to identify the importance of individuals’ cultural background in creating new forms of community and belonging among young people of immigrant background. Based on a qualitative study of eight national voluntary organizations for children and young people of immigrant background, we analyse transnational ties and practices in these organizations. What is the importance of these ties for social and political integration, and how do, these organizations meet the Goverment`s requirement of being a traditional voluntary organization with a national scope? This analysis shows that migrant organizations can be understood as both socio-cultural and political communities. With this dichotomy as a backdrop, we discuss how migrant organizations are trying to fill the role as intercultural communities and at the same time act as arenas for social and political integration. We find that the socio-cultural and political dimensions of the migrant organizations cannot be understood independently of each other. This means that the integration process and transnational ties are two complementary processes. The chapter concludes that the migrant organizations have the potential to play an important role as arena for social and political integration. However, this potential seems to become activated because of the organizations transnational ties and networks, and not despite of them.

Tradisjonelle organisasjoner og nye frivillige initiativ i flyktningsituasjonen høsten 2015. Mobilisering eller forsterkning av eksisterende skiller?

This chapter studies voluntary contributions in Norway during the refugee crisis in 2015. Due to increased asylum arrivals, the public reception centers were overloaded and there was an urgent need for assistance from civil society actors. In addition to contributions from traditional voluntary organizations, a number of new voluntary initiatives were established. This makes the migration crisis a unique case for studying new forms of engagement: Did the migration crisis mobilize new groups of volunteers, or did the situation rather reinforce existing cleavages between volunteers and non-volunteers? Based on survey panel data carried out before (2014) and after (2016) the migration crisis we analyze cleavages between volunteers and non-volunteers related to variations in sociodemographic background and political party preferences. The results show indications of both mobilization and reinforcement of existing cleavages, but in the long run existing cleavages seems to be preserved. Compared to the traditional organizations, new voluntary initiatives recruited more contributions from the young, low educated and low-income groups, but the number of ‘new’ volunteers was limited – the majority of those who contributed had previous experience as organizational volunteers. Furthermore, we find few indications that involvement during the migration crisis contributed to increased participation in traditional voluntary work a year later. Thus, the results suggest that, in the context of the migration crisis, we observed a short-term mobilization of some new groups, but in the longer run, the voluntary sector is characterized by established cleavages between volunteers and non-volunteers.

Politiske aksjoner i Norge: Hvilken rolle spiller organisasjonene?

In this chapter, we analyze protests and demonstrations in Norway in the period between 1983 and 2016. The aim is to shed light on the role of different kinds of civil society organizations in the protest channel, and the relationship that exist between political and civic engagement. The analysis presented stem from two original datasets. The first one is built on the national assembly’s own archive, where legal protests and demonstrations outside the assembly building are recorded. The second dataset is built on the compilation of recorded protests in Norway’s largest newspapers, Aftenposten and Verdens Gang, and contains both legal and illegal protests carried out in Oslo or in other parts of Norway. We find a vibrant protest channel where a host of political and social issues are presented through various protest activities, and where a broad variety of organizations play an important role in organizing and executing demonstrations and protests. Even though there is evidence of informal networks and private initiatives that organize protests, the main bulk of activities are carried out by formal organizations. Hence, a limited amount of protests are considered spontanious and unorganized.