Abstract Using the largely untapped episode of the reconstruction of the World Bank’s Economics Department in the mid-1960s, this article aims to augment our theoretical and empirical understanding of intra-organizational change in international organizations (IOs). By analyzing the instruments and mechanisms of dynamic staff agency, it highlights the capacity of norm entrepreneurs, professional groups, and internal administrative units to shape activities and initiate a change of IOs. The article makes a case for a more dynamic constructivist approach to the study of IOs and their ecosystems.
{"title":"Internal Dynamics as Drivers of Change in International Organizations: The Economists’ Takeover at the World Bank","authors":"M. Hošman","doi":"10.2478/sjs-2023-0004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/sjs-2023-0004","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Using the largely untapped episode of the reconstruction of the World Bank’s Economics Department in the mid-1960s, this article aims to augment our theoretical and empirical understanding of intra-organizational change in international organizations (IOs). By analyzing the instruments and mechanisms of dynamic staff agency, it highlights the capacity of norm entrepreneurs, professional groups, and internal administrative units to shape activities and initiate a change of IOs. The article makes a case for a more dynamic constructivist approach to the study of IOs and their ecosystems.","PeriodicalId":39497,"journal":{"name":"Swiss Journal of Sociology","volume":"49 1","pages":"41 - 60"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48015637","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract The Covid-19 pandemic and the way this health crisis has been handled has changed labour market inequalities. We argue that workers are affected differently by changed work and employment conditions, depending on the workers’ employment relations and study the impact of remote work, polarization of the core, and peripheral workforce as well as changes in working time during the Covid-19 pandemic on perceived employment insecurity. Based on data from the Swiss Household Panel and its special wave (“Covid-19 Study”), our results show that the perceived employment insecurity is related to employment strategies aimed at increasing flexibility in the labour market. In particular, short-time work increased perceived employment insecurity.
{"title":"The Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Perceived Employment (In)Security in Switzerland","authors":"Susanne Edler, Ivo Staub","doi":"10.2478/sjs-2023-0010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/sjs-2023-0010","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The Covid-19 pandemic and the way this health crisis has been handled has changed labour market inequalities. We argue that workers are affected differently by changed work and employment conditions, depending on the workers’ employment relations and study the impact of remote work, polarization of the core, and peripheral workforce as well as changes in working time during the Covid-19 pandemic on perceived employment insecurity. Based on data from the Swiss Household Panel and its special wave (“Covid-19 Study”), our results show that the perceived employment insecurity is related to employment strategies aimed at increasing flexibility in the labour market. In particular, short-time work increased perceived employment insecurity.","PeriodicalId":39497,"journal":{"name":"Swiss Journal of Sociology","volume":"49 1","pages":"179 - 214"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46538845","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract In International Organizations (IOs), noble ideals often clash with harsh realities on the ground. It should therefore come as no surprise if IO employees become cynical over time. However, while there is a large body of work on “organizational cynicism” in sociology and management studies, a systematic examination of cynicism is lacking in IO research. The article addresses this gap and explores the causes and consequences of cynicism among IO staff based on insights gained in 50+ in-depth interviews with staff members at the UN Secretariat from 2020 to 2022.
{"title":"Working for World Peace: Between Idealism and Cynicism in International Organizations","authors":"Benne Christian","doi":"10.2478/sjs-2023-0003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/sjs-2023-0003","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract In International Organizations (IOs), noble ideals often clash with harsh realities on the ground. It should therefore come as no surprise if IO employees become cynical over time. However, while there is a large body of work on “organizational cynicism” in sociology and management studies, a systematic examination of cynicism is lacking in IO research. The article addresses this gap and explores the causes and consequences of cynicism among IO staff based on insights gained in 50+ in-depth interviews with staff members at the UN Secretariat from 2020 to 2022.","PeriodicalId":39497,"journal":{"name":"Swiss Journal of Sociology","volume":"49 1","pages":"21 - 39"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68918734","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract This article – based on the case studies of the WHO and the FAO – shows that the expansion of cooperation between international organizations (IOs) and non-state actors (NSAs) leads to a significant rearrangement of IOs organizational boundaries. IOs develop bureaucratic procedures (e. g. due diligence, risk management) that lead IO employees to be in charge of “taxonomy work”, i. e. the classification and hierarchization of NSAs. This work re draws the boundaries of IOs and generates resistance and contestation, both inside and out side IOs.
{"title":"Social Boundary Work in International Organizations: Taxonomy and Resistance","authors":"A. Guilbaud","doi":"10.2478/sjs-2023-0007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/sjs-2023-0007","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This article – based on the case studies of the WHO and the FAO – shows that the expansion of cooperation between international organizations (IOs) and non-state actors (NSAs) leads to a significant rearrangement of IOs organizational boundaries. IOs develop bureaucratic procedures (e. g. due diligence, risk management) that lead IO employees to be in charge of “taxonomy work”, i. e. the classification and hierarchization of NSAs. This work re draws the boundaries of IOs and generates resistance and contestation, both inside and out side IOs.","PeriodicalId":39497,"journal":{"name":"Swiss Journal of Sociology","volume":"49 1","pages":"103 - 121"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42436391","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract Bureaucratic competency arises from an approach combining a concept from organizational sociology (functional competency by Crozier) and a research in political science on individual competency in international organization (IO). The article shows that IO agents must master areas of uncertainty inherent in the career in IOs. To deal with this, they develop a multi-form bureaucratic skill. The analysis of this competency reveals individual strategies, far from a vision of competency as a collective resource for IOs.
{"title":"The Bureaucratic Competency: A Source of Power? An Exploration of International Organizations Staff Through the Notion of Competency in Organizational Sociology","authors":"Emilie Dairon","doi":"10.2478/sjs-2023-0006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/sjs-2023-0006","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Bureaucratic competency arises from an approach combining a concept from organizational sociology (functional competency by Crozier) and a research in political science on individual competency in international organization (IO). The article shows that IO agents must master areas of uncertainty inherent in the career in IOs. To deal with this, they develop a multi-form bureaucratic skill. The analysis of this competency reveals individual strategies, far from a vision of competency as a collective resource for IOs.","PeriodicalId":39497,"journal":{"name":"Swiss Journal of Sociology","volume":"49 1","pages":"83 - 102"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48219129","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Scholars have studied International Organizations (IOs) in various disciplines such as political science, history, law, economics, and anthropology approaching them through a variety of theoretical lenses. The present special issue focuses on the study of IOs and sociology, in particular the sociology of organizations. We are not the first in this endeavor. As early as 1988, Ness and Brechin (1988) made the case to bridge the gap between the study of IOs and the sociology of organizations. They provided us with a stimulating research agenda for the study of IOs around key sociological concepts: environment, technology, organizational goals, and structure. Ten years ago, Brechin and Ness (2013) re-assessed the gap between organizational sociology and the study of IOs and found that “both sides have moved closer to one another and have enriched their perspectives” (Brechin and Ness 2013, 14). However, they observed that this welcomed development is mainly due to the fact that IOs are now seen both more as organizations autonomous vis-à-vis states and as actors in their own right in international relations. Following the footsteps of scholars such as Ness and Brechin (1988), Brechin and Ness (2013), Schemeil (2013) and Bourrier (2017; 2020), the main objective of this special issue is to show how both IO studies and organizational sociology can benefit from more cross-fertilization. While sociology has already been used to study international relations (Devin 2015), and IOs in particular (Lagrange et al. 2021), we argue that an approach through the sociology of organizations can also help study IOs as organizations in their own right within which various actors compete, develop strategies, and perform routines and practices. In turn they produce norms and values with the inherent target to have impact on a global scale. Organizational sociology conceives IOs as autonomous actors (Reinalda and Verbeek 1998; Barnett and Finnemore 2004; Ellis 2010; Koch and Stetter 2013). On a theoretical level, it allows to go beyond rigid categories such as governmental / non-governmental (Nay
学者们从政治学、历史学、法学、经济学和人类学等不同学科对国际组织进行了研究，并通过各种理论视角来接近它们。本期特刊着重研究国际组织与社会学，特别是组织社会学。我们并不是第一个这样做的国家。早在1988年，Ness和Brechin(1988)就提出了弥合组织社会学与组织组织研究之间差距的案例。他们为我们提供了围绕关键社会学概念(环境、技术、组织目标和结构)进行IOs研究的激励研究议程。十年前，Brechin和Ness(2013)重新评估了组织社会学与IOs研究之间的差距，发现“双方已经彼此靠近，并且丰富了他们的观点”(Brechin和Ness 2013,14)。然而，他们注意到，这一可喜的发展主要是由于国际组织现在被更多地视为独立于-à-vis国家的组织，以及在国际关系中拥有自己权利的行动者。继Ness and Brechin(1988)、Brechin and Ness(2013)、Schemeil(2013)和Bourrier(2017)等学者之后;2020)，本期特刊的主要目的是展示IO研究和组织社会学如何从更多的交叉受精中受益。虽然社会学已经被用于研究国际关系(Devin 2015)，特别是IOs (Lagrange et al. 2021)，但我们认为，通过组织社会学的方法也可以帮助研究IOs作为组织本身的权利，其中各种参与者竞争，制定战略，并执行惯例和实践。反过来，它们产生的规范和价值观的内在目标是在全球范围内产生影响。组织社会学将IOs视为自主行为者(Reinalda and Verbeek 1998;Barnett and Finnemore 2004;埃利斯2010;Koch and Stetter 2013)。在理论层面上，它允许超越严格的类别，如政府/非政府(Nay
{"title":"Anchoring International Organizations in Organizational Sociology","authors":"Fanny Badache, Leah R. Kimber","doi":"10.2478/sjs-2023-0002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/sjs-2023-0002","url":null,"abstract":"Scholars have studied International Organizations (IOs) in various disciplines such as political science, history, law, economics, and anthropology approaching them through a variety of theoretical lenses. The present special issue focuses on the study of IOs and sociology, in particular the sociology of organizations. We are not the first in this endeavor. As early as 1988, Ness and Brechin (1988) made the case to bridge the gap between the study of IOs and the sociology of organizations. They provided us with a stimulating research agenda for the study of IOs around key sociological concepts: environment, technology, organizational goals, and structure. Ten years ago, Brechin and Ness (2013) re-assessed the gap between organizational sociology and the study of IOs and found that “both sides have moved closer to one another and have enriched their perspectives” (Brechin and Ness 2013, 14). However, they observed that this welcomed development is mainly due to the fact that IOs are now seen both more as organizations autonomous vis-à-vis states and as actors in their own right in international relations. Following the footsteps of scholars such as Ness and Brechin (1988), Brechin and Ness (2013), Schemeil (2013) and Bourrier (2017; 2020), the main objective of this special issue is to show how both IO studies and organizational sociology can benefit from more cross-fertilization. While sociology has already been used to study international relations (Devin 2015), and IOs in particular (Lagrange et al. 2021), we argue that an approach through the sociology of organizations can also help study IOs as organizations in their own right within which various actors compete, develop strategies, and perform routines and practices. In turn they produce norms and values with the inherent target to have impact on a global scale. Organizational sociology conceives IOs as autonomous actors (Reinalda and Verbeek 1998; Barnett and Finnemore 2004; Ellis 2010; Koch and Stetter 2013). On a theoretical level, it allows to go beyond rigid categories such as governmental / non-governmental (Nay","PeriodicalId":39497,"journal":{"name":"Swiss Journal of Sociology","volume":"49 1","pages":"9 - 19"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43319006","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Barbara Fouquet-Chauprade, Sonia Revaz, Samuel Charmillot
Abstract This article examines the way in which political decisions on schooling are made, with the double constraint of a search for consensus, anchored in Swiss politics, and the presence of moral entrepreneurs (Becker, 1985).We analyse the tensions that this creates in the design of a reform of lower secondary education and the forms that the conflict takes. The analyses show an over-politicisation of educational issues, exacerbating the divisions between policy actors.
{"title":"A Moral Entrepreneur in the Land of Consensus: Making School Policy in Switzerland","authors":"Barbara Fouquet-Chauprade, Sonia Revaz, Samuel Charmillot","doi":"10.2478/sjs-2023-0013","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/sjs-2023-0013","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This article examines the way in which political decisions on schooling are made, with the double constraint of a search for consensus, anchored in Swiss politics, and the presence of moral entrepreneurs (Becker, 1985).We analyse the tensions that this creates in the design of a reform of lower secondary education and the forms that the conflict takes. The analyses show an over-politicisation of educational issues, exacerbating the divisions between policy actors.","PeriodicalId":39497,"journal":{"name":"Swiss Journal of Sociology","volume":"0 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-02-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43309206","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract This article investigates the role of ethnic and racializing differentiations in recruitment practices of public administrations in a context of demands to employ more staff of immigrant origin. Drawing on a qualitative study of local administrations in Berlin, I show how figures of “(un)suitable candidates” are constructed, in which ethnic/racializing differentiations intersect with gendered and spatial differentiations. This serves both to justify low recruitment numbers and established routines and to showcase openness to diversity.
{"title":"(Un)suitable Difference: Ethnic and Racializing Differentiations in Recruitment Practices of Local Administrations in Berlin","authors":"Christine Lang","doi":"10.2478/sjs-2022-0024","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/sjs-2022-0024","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This article investigates the role of ethnic and racializing differentiations in recruitment practices of public administrations in a context of demands to employ more staff of immigrant origin. Drawing on a qualitative study of local administrations in Berlin, I show how figures of “(un)suitable candidates” are constructed, in which ethnic/racializing differentiations intersect with gendered and spatial differentiations. This serves both to justify low recruitment numbers and established routines and to showcase openness to diversity.","PeriodicalId":39497,"journal":{"name":"Swiss Journal of Sociology","volume":"48 1","pages":"489 - 508"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41372879","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract Immigrant associations in Germany are increasingly approached as experts and included in administrative action. This article develops a heuristic informed by governmentality studies to analyse this cooperation practice. A document analysis shows that immigrant associations are addressed as “bridge builders” between public administration and migrants. Interviews with actors in a municipal cooperation setting in Berlin reveal the paradoxes of this interpellation as well as reflexive strategies of organisational self-positioning.
{"title":"“Bridge Builders” in the Dispositif of Collaborative Inclusion. Enactments of Expertise in Cooperations between Local Administrations and Immigrant Associations","authors":"D. Schumann","doi":"10.2478/sjs-2022-0023","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/sjs-2022-0023","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Immigrant associations in Germany are increasingly approached as experts and included in administrative action. This article develops a heuristic informed by governmentality studies to analyse this cooperation practice. A document analysis shows that immigrant associations are addressed as “bridge builders” between public administration and migrants. Interviews with actors in a municipal cooperation setting in Berlin reveal the paradoxes of this interpellation as well as reflexive strategies of organisational self-positioning.","PeriodicalId":39497,"journal":{"name":"Swiss Journal of Sociology","volume":"48 1","pages":"465 - 487"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44293792","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract Focusing on practices and representations mobilized by street-level workers in the management of North African unaccompanied minor migrants (UAMs) in Geneva, I take a closer look at the everyday assessment and production of UAMs’ deservingness in the context of humanitarianism. I show the importance of doubt and of perceived vulnerability in the informal evaluation process of UAMs’ right for protection. I further demonstrate how the social construction of childhood, race, and gender influence street-level workers’ perceptions.
{"title":"Street-Level Workers and Unaccompanied Minors: Between Vulnerability and Suspicion","authors":"Sélim Clerc","doi":"10.2478/sjs-2022-0028","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/sjs-2022-0028","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Focusing on practices and representations mobilized by street-level workers in the management of North African unaccompanied minor migrants (UAMs) in Geneva, I take a closer look at the everyday assessment and production of UAMs’ deservingness in the context of humanitarianism. I show the importance of doubt and of perceived vulnerability in the informal evaluation process of UAMs’ right for protection. I further demonstrate how the social construction of childhood, race, and gender influence street-level workers’ perceptions.","PeriodicalId":39497,"journal":{"name":"Swiss Journal of Sociology","volume":"48 1","pages":"571 - 592"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47453299","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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