Variations on a theme: exploring understandings of the marketisation concept in civil society research

Abstract

ABSTRACT It is, today, widely accepted that market structures, logics, identities and activities are spreading throughout society, including civil society and its organisations. Scholars increasingly use the marketisation concept to describe these tendencies. This paper reviews the meaning attached to this concept, when used in the context of civil society. A sample of 210 peer-reviewed articles in civil society studies published between 1993 and 2017 is explored in an analysis that suggests that marketisation is being used with much variation in the literature. The analysis also shows that apart from more generic descriptions of persistent attempts to privatise and commodify various goods and services, few articles seem to involve more detailed definitions or profound conceptual arguments. Taken together, this indicates a development where the concept of marketisation runs the risk of losing its analytical powers. To avoid this, the paper proposes a stricter and more transparent use of the term ‘marketisation’ and suggests ways to further develop this concept in research.