Pub Date : 2022-01-02DOI: 10.1080/17448689.2022.2061547
S. Lundåsen
ABSTRACT When dealing with the complex policy issue of how to maintain social cohesion within an increasingly diverse society, decision-makers often view civil society organizations as important actors that can provide opportunities for intergroup contacts and pathways for immigrants to integrate. The present study uses data from a large-scale survey directed toward individuals nested within 36 different local communities and over 1250 different neighbourhoods with varying levels of visible minorities. The results contribute by showing that it is important to consider not only the frequency of intergroup contacts but also the context in which those who are involved in civil society organizations live. Those who are involved in civil society organizations at the local level are embedded in local contexts that moderate how respondents perceive whether others are to be trusted. Very frequent intergroup contacts within civil society organizations correlated more strongly with higher levels of community and outgroup trust among those with native backgrounds who lived in diverse neighbourhoods. Similarly, the results indicated that perceptions of intergroup contact mattered. Neighbourhood diversity and outgroup trust were statistically significant only for those who perceived intergroup contacts to be very positive or rather positive.
{"title":"Intergroup contacts in civil society organizations and trust: How neighbourhood diversity moderates the role of intergroup contacts","authors":"S. Lundåsen","doi":"10.1080/17448689.2022.2061547","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17448689.2022.2061547","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT When dealing with the complex policy issue of how to maintain social cohesion within an increasingly diverse society, decision-makers often view civil society organizations as important actors that can provide opportunities for intergroup contacts and pathways for immigrants to integrate. The present study uses data from a large-scale survey directed toward individuals nested within 36 different local communities and over 1250 different neighbourhoods with varying levels of visible minorities. The results contribute by showing that it is important to consider not only the frequency of intergroup contacts but also the context in which those who are involved in civil society organizations live. Those who are involved in civil society organizations at the local level are embedded in local contexts that moderate how respondents perceive whether others are to be trusted. Very frequent intergroup contacts within civil society organizations correlated more strongly with higher levels of community and outgroup trust among those with native backgrounds who lived in diverse neighbourhoods. Similarly, the results indicated that perceptions of intergroup contact mattered. Neighbourhood diversity and outgroup trust were statistically significant only for those who perceived intergroup contacts to be very positive or rather positive.","PeriodicalId":46013,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Civil Society","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2022-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43042336","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}
Pub Date : 2022-01-02DOI: 10.1080/17448689.2022.2061546
Inna Bell
ABSTRACT This article explores how civil society organizations survive multiple regime changes. This is a case study of Junák, a Czech scouting organization, that experienced the shift from democratic capitalism to authoritarian communism and back again. I build on archival and interview data to test how new institutional concepts of the regulative, normative, and cultural-cognitive institutional pressures fare when applied to organizational survival across regime change. I found that Junák responded to institutional pressures through a multiplicity of responses, including isomorphic, ceremonial, and innovative changes as well continuity of selected attributes. During communism, ceremonial change prevailed, helping the CSO to preserve some of its organizational aspects. After 1989, Junák opted for a combination of change and continuity. This case study raises new questions about voluntarism in Central and Eastern Europe during authoritarianism and its impact on civil society and its organizations after 1989.
{"title":"Survival of Civil Society Organizations Across Multiple Political Regimes: The Case of the Czech Scouting Organization Junák, 1914–2019","authors":"Inna Bell","doi":"10.1080/17448689.2022.2061546","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17448689.2022.2061546","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This article explores how civil society organizations survive multiple regime changes. This is a case study of Junák, a Czech scouting organization, that experienced the shift from democratic capitalism to authoritarian communism and back again. I build on archival and interview data to test how new institutional concepts of the regulative, normative, and cultural-cognitive institutional pressures fare when applied to organizational survival across regime change. I found that Junák responded to institutional pressures through a multiplicity of responses, including isomorphic, ceremonial, and innovative changes as well continuity of selected attributes. During communism, ceremonial change prevailed, helping the CSO to preserve some of its organizational aspects. After 1989, Junák opted for a combination of change and continuity. This case study raises new questions about voluntarism in Central and Eastern Europe during authoritarianism and its impact on civil society and its organizations after 1989.","PeriodicalId":46013,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Civil Society","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2022-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49241983","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}
Pub Date : 2022-01-02DOI: 10.1080/17448689.2022.2061545
U. Pape, Y. Skokova
ABSTRACT How do nonprofit organizations (NPOs) engage in advocacy in closed political regimes? This article studies nonprofit advocacy in Russia by focusing on strategies and explanatory factors. We argue that Russian NPOs rely on collaborative rather than confrontational strategies. They use official channels, personal contact with state officials, strategies for resource exchange and evidence-based advocacy. Based on empirical research in eight regions, we show that nonprofit advocacy depends on both external (contextual) and internal (organizational) factors. NPOs have greater opportunity to engage in advocacy when the subnational institutional context and the policy field allow for their active participation in policy formation and implementation. Moreover, NPOs are more successful in their advocacy when they strategically use their capabilities (e.g., knowledge, expertise and skills) and emphasize mutual trust, loyalty and readiness to compromise. Our findings point to the relevance of collaborative forms of advocacy, particularly in constrained political environments such as Russia.
{"title":"Nonprofit advocacy in Russia’s regions","authors":"U. Pape, Y. Skokova","doi":"10.1080/17448689.2022.2061545","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17448689.2022.2061545","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT How do nonprofit organizations (NPOs) engage in advocacy in closed political regimes? This article studies nonprofit advocacy in Russia by focusing on strategies and explanatory factors. We argue that Russian NPOs rely on collaborative rather than confrontational strategies. They use official channels, personal contact with state officials, strategies for resource exchange and evidence-based advocacy. Based on empirical research in eight regions, we show that nonprofit advocacy depends on both external (contextual) and internal (organizational) factors. NPOs have greater opportunity to engage in advocacy when the subnational institutional context and the policy field allow for their active participation in policy formation and implementation. Moreover, NPOs are more successful in their advocacy when they strategically use their capabilities (e.g., knowledge, expertise and skills) and emphasize mutual trust, loyalty and readiness to compromise. Our findings point to the relevance of collaborative forms of advocacy, particularly in constrained political environments such as Russia.","PeriodicalId":46013,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Civil Society","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2022-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47371606","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}
Pub Date : 2022-01-02DOI: 10.1080/17448689.2022.2061548
D. Chan
ABSTRACT Although the literature on political consumerism is prolific, political consumerism as a form of domestic political resistance is under-explored. The nascent ‘Yellow Economy’ in Hong Kong – in which citizens have boycotted pro-government (‘blue’) business and buycotted pro-democracy (‘yellow’) businesses – is an economic front of the pro-democracy movement that emerged in 2019. With rising political threats following the imposition of the national security law, street protests and other forms of contention politics have been stifled. The Yellow Economy, however, has become a new protest repertoire that has helped to sustain the movement. Drawing upon 26 semi-structured interviews with the Yellow Economy’s supporters from May to July 2020, as well as secondary data including newspaper articles, this article finds that a shared collective identity among pro-democracy citizens primarily gives rise to consumer activism in Hong Kong. Even though the initiative could not yield intended outcomes, i.e., resource mobilization and political opportunity expansion, pro-democracy citizens have continued engaging in political consumerism to express their solidarity. Furthermore, consumer activism and pro-democracy citizens’ identity are mutually reinforcing.
{"title":"The consumption power of the politically powerless: The Yellow Economy in Hong Kong","authors":"D. Chan","doi":"10.1080/17448689.2022.2061548","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17448689.2022.2061548","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Although the literature on political consumerism is prolific, political consumerism as a form of domestic political resistance is under-explored. The nascent ‘Yellow Economy’ in Hong Kong – in which citizens have boycotted pro-government (‘blue’) business and buycotted pro-democracy (‘yellow’) businesses – is an economic front of the pro-democracy movement that emerged in 2019. With rising political threats following the imposition of the national security law, street protests and other forms of contention politics have been stifled. The Yellow Economy, however, has become a new protest repertoire that has helped to sustain the movement. Drawing upon 26 semi-structured interviews with the Yellow Economy’s supporters from May to July 2020, as well as secondary data including newspaper articles, this article finds that a shared collective identity among pro-democracy citizens primarily gives rise to consumer activism in Hong Kong. Even though the initiative could not yield intended outcomes, i.e., resource mobilization and political opportunity expansion, pro-democracy citizens have continued engaging in political consumerism to express their solidarity. Furthermore, consumer activism and pro-democracy citizens’ identity are mutually reinforcing.","PeriodicalId":46013,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Civil Society","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2022-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43167926","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}
Pub Date : 2022-01-02DOI: 10.1080/17448689.2022.2061549
Y. Paat
ABSTRACT Using purposive sampling and in-depth interviews of 40 ethnic-racial minority immigrants (first-, 1.5-, and second-generations) on the US-Mexico border, this study examined factors that facilitated and hindered decisions to volunteer. Overall, analyses based on the Grounded Theory Method indicated that the participants’ proclivity to volunteer was driven by multifaceted factors related to the availability of their personal resources, altruistic concerns over the welfare of the disadvantaged, cost-benefit analyses that factored opportunity cost in decision-making, self-interest, and personal benefits accrued. Specifically, volunteering could be used as a venue to foster professional career development, attain personal growth, reap emotional benefits, and fulfil altruistic callings. Factors that deterred the participants from volunteering consisted of value clashes with the agency management, personality conflicts with other volunteers, challenges confronted in working with difficult client populations, and time constraints. This study also supported the resource perspective where participants with more personal resources such as time, network, knowledge, values, skill sets, and expertise were able to volunteer in a wider variety of capacities. Study findings can be used to promote a culture of diversity and inclusion in volunteering, remove barriers that hinder involvement, and encourage contribution from this growing segment of the U.S. population.
{"title":"Factors facilitating and hindering volunteering practices among ethnic-racial minority immigrants on the US-Mexico border","authors":"Y. Paat","doi":"10.1080/17448689.2022.2061549","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17448689.2022.2061549","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Using purposive sampling and in-depth interviews of 40 ethnic-racial minority immigrants (first-, 1.5-, and second-generations) on the US-Mexico border, this study examined factors that facilitated and hindered decisions to volunteer. Overall, analyses based on the Grounded Theory Method indicated that the participants’ proclivity to volunteer was driven by multifaceted factors related to the availability of their personal resources, altruistic concerns over the welfare of the disadvantaged, cost-benefit analyses that factored opportunity cost in decision-making, self-interest, and personal benefits accrued. Specifically, volunteering could be used as a venue to foster professional career development, attain personal growth, reap emotional benefits, and fulfil altruistic callings. Factors that deterred the participants from volunteering consisted of value clashes with the agency management, personality conflicts with other volunteers, challenges confronted in working with difficult client populations, and time constraints. This study also supported the resource perspective where participants with more personal resources such as time, network, knowledge, values, skill sets, and expertise were able to volunteer in a wider variety of capacities. Study findings can be used to promote a culture of diversity and inclusion in volunteering, remove barriers that hinder involvement, and encourage contribution from this growing segment of the U.S. population.","PeriodicalId":46013,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Civil Society","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2022-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45128518","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}
Pub Date : 2022-01-02DOI: 10.1080/17448689.2022.2058310
Joanna Mellquist
ABSTRACT This article investigates the field of policy professionals in civil society. The main objective is to gain knowledge on this subgroup of policy professionals, who are exerting vast influence over civil society organizations’ policy development. Using field theory when analysing interviews and ethnographic data, the study contributes to our understanding of these civil society policy professionals, adding to the literature on professionalization in civil society by conceptualizing the capital that they construct and bring to the organizations in which they work. The findings provide insights on three main themes: First, organizational capital, based on being active in associations, stands out as specifically important for these professionals. Second, policy political capital – knowledge, skills and contacts derived from the political structure – is important within the field. Third, drawing on Bourdieu’s conceptual apparatus, the analysis shows that the specific illusio for the policy professional field is influence. It implies the importance of successfully upholding the image of policy influence and is the return that the players in the field are competing for.
{"title":"The Game of Influence: Policy Professional Capital in Civil Society","authors":"Joanna Mellquist","doi":"10.1080/17448689.2022.2058310","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17448689.2022.2058310","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This article investigates the field of policy professionals in civil society. The main objective is to gain knowledge on this subgroup of policy professionals, who are exerting vast influence over civil society organizations’ policy development. Using field theory when analysing interviews and ethnographic data, the study contributes to our understanding of these civil society policy professionals, adding to the literature on professionalization in civil society by conceptualizing the capital that they construct and bring to the organizations in which they work. The findings provide insights on three main themes: First, organizational capital, based on being active in associations, stands out as specifically important for these professionals. Second, policy political capital – knowledge, skills and contacts derived from the political structure – is important within the field. Third, drawing on Bourdieu’s conceptual apparatus, the analysis shows that the specific illusio for the policy professional field is influence. It implies the importance of successfully upholding the image of policy influence and is the return that the players in the field are competing for.","PeriodicalId":46013,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Civil Society","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2022-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49650079","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}
Pub Date : 2021-10-02DOI: 10.1080/17448689.2021.2018805
Karsten Elmose-Østerlund, T. Schlesinger, P. Ehnold, S. Nagel
ABSTRACT Current research has identified practices of ethnic closure and discrimination regarding voluntary positions in sports clubs. This article explores whether people with migration background differ in terms of taking on voluntary tasks from people without migration background. The analyses build on data from the project ‘Social Inclusion and Volunteering in Sports Clubs in Europe’ (SIVSCE) that includes information about volunteering, as well as, individual characteristics of the members (n = 10,641) in voluntary sports clubs (VSCs) from ten European countries. When differentiating between first and second-generation migrants, the findings show that for all the examined voluntary tasks in VSCs, second-generation migrants are significantly better represented than first-generation migrants. Multiple regression analyses for different voluntary tasks indicate that direct effects of migration status disappear under the control of other socio-economic and membership-related variables. This indicates that the underrepresentation of first-generation migrants in the different task areas is not greatly influenced by ethnic closure and discrimination in the recruiting practices of the clubs, rather differences in volunteering are associated with variances of underlying individual characteristics such as educational level and membership duration.
{"title":"The relevance of migration status for voluntary tasks in sports clubs","authors":"Karsten Elmose-Østerlund, T. Schlesinger, P. Ehnold, S. Nagel","doi":"10.1080/17448689.2021.2018805","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17448689.2021.2018805","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Current research has identified practices of ethnic closure and discrimination regarding voluntary positions in sports clubs. This article explores whether people with migration background differ in terms of taking on voluntary tasks from people without migration background. The analyses build on data from the project ‘Social Inclusion and Volunteering in Sports Clubs in Europe’ (SIVSCE) that includes information about volunteering, as well as, individual characteristics of the members (n = 10,641) in voluntary sports clubs (VSCs) from ten European countries. When differentiating between first and second-generation migrants, the findings show that for all the examined voluntary tasks in VSCs, second-generation migrants are significantly better represented than first-generation migrants. Multiple regression analyses for different voluntary tasks indicate that direct effects of migration status disappear under the control of other socio-economic and membership-related variables. This indicates that the underrepresentation of first-generation migrants in the different task areas is not greatly influenced by ethnic closure and discrimination in the recruiting practices of the clubs, rather differences in volunteering are associated with variances of underlying individual characteristics such as educational level and membership duration.","PeriodicalId":46013,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Civil Society","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2021-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42368463","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}
Pub Date : 2021-10-02DOI: 10.1080/17448689.2021.1994200
G. Clarke
ABSTRACT In 2018, one of the largest international development non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the world, Oxfam GB, became engulfed in a scandal which quickly spread to other international NGOs (INGOs). The crisis arose from the sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment (SEAH) of the beneficiaries and staff of leading INGOs and caused significant reputational harm to these organizations amid declining public trust and intense political and media scrutiny. The crisis raises significant questions about the credibility of INGOs and the policies necessary to restore public trust. This article reviews the background to the crisis and the responses to it from Oxfam GB & Oxfam International, by other INGOs and by the funders and regulators tasked with overseeing them, focusing on the United Kingdom. It then analyses these actions in the context of an analytical framework proposed in Gourevitch, Lake & Stein (Eds)(2012). It argues that the Oxfam scandal of 2018 marks a fundamental shift in the manner in which INGOs must promote accountability and transparency, based on high-quality, culturally-inclusive, learning-based management.
2018年，世界上最大的国际发展非政府组织之一乐施会(Oxfam GB)卷入了一起丑闻，并迅速蔓延到其他国际非政府组织。这场危机是由主要非政府组织的受益者和工作人员的性剥削、虐待和骚扰(SEAH)引起的，在公众信任度下降和政治和媒体密切关注的情况下，对这些组织的声誉造成了重大损害。这场危机对非政府组织的可信度和恢复公众信任所必需的政策提出了重大质疑。本文回顾了这场危机的背景，以及英国乐施会和国际乐施会、其他非政府组织以及负责监督它们的资助者和监管机构对危机的反应，重点是英国。然后在Gourevitch, Lake & Stein(编辑)(2012)中提出的分析框架的背景下分析这些行动。报告认为，2018年的乐施会丑闻标志着国际非政府组织必须在高质量、文化包容和学习型管理的基础上，促进问责制和透明度的方式发生了根本性转变。
{"title":"The Credibility of International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs) and the Oxfam Scandal of 2018","authors":"G. Clarke","doi":"10.1080/17448689.2021.1994200","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17448689.2021.1994200","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT In 2018, one of the largest international development non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the world, Oxfam GB, became engulfed in a scandal which quickly spread to other international NGOs (INGOs). The crisis arose from the sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment (SEAH) of the beneficiaries and staff of leading INGOs and caused significant reputational harm to these organizations amid declining public trust and intense political and media scrutiny. The crisis raises significant questions about the credibility of INGOs and the policies necessary to restore public trust. This article reviews the background to the crisis and the responses to it from Oxfam GB & Oxfam International, by other INGOs and by the funders and regulators tasked with overseeing them, focusing on the United Kingdom. It then analyses these actions in the context of an analytical framework proposed in Gourevitch, Lake & Stein (Eds)(2012). It argues that the Oxfam scandal of 2018 marks a fundamental shift in the manner in which INGOs must promote accountability and transparency, based on high-quality, culturally-inclusive, learning-based management.","PeriodicalId":46013,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Civil Society","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2021-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44665220","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}
Pub Date : 2021-10-02DOI: 10.1080/17448689.2021.1994202
Sára Vértes, Chris van der Borgh, A. Buyse
ABSTRACT Shrinking civic space is a global trend in governance impeding citizens’ enjoyment of the fundamental freedoms of association, expression and peaceful assembly. While deeply affected by this phenomenon, civil society organizations and collectives in Lebanon have cultivated a series of non-sectarian opposition movements that warrant an assessment of how these may contribute to reconciling deeply divided identities. The authors examine the specific challenges imposed on civil society in Lebanon’s hybrid democratic setting, where power and resources are allocated along confession-based cleavages. Additionally, they discuss the strategies through which Lebanese civil society collectives push back against government pressures and defend, as well as expand, their available room for manoeuvre. The strategies of two recent opposition movements are analysed: (i) the coalition ‘Kollouna Watani’, a crossover into politics for the 2018 Lebanese elections by actors originally associated with civil society organizations, and (ii) the mass protest movement starting in October 2019. The findings highlight these non-sectarian movements’ potential to promote cooperation among the fragmented realms of civil society, as well as the hardships of challenging well-established elites and their interests via formal politicization. In doing so, they also show the potential and agency of civil society to counter the phenomenon of shrinking civic space.
{"title":"Negotiating civic space in Lebanon: The potential of non-sectarian movements","authors":"Sára Vértes, Chris van der Borgh, A. Buyse","doi":"10.1080/17448689.2021.1994202","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17448689.2021.1994202","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Shrinking civic space is a global trend in governance impeding citizens’ enjoyment of the fundamental freedoms of association, expression and peaceful assembly. While deeply affected by this phenomenon, civil society organizations and collectives in Lebanon have cultivated a series of non-sectarian opposition movements that warrant an assessment of how these may contribute to reconciling deeply divided identities. The authors examine the specific challenges imposed on civil society in Lebanon’s hybrid democratic setting, where power and resources are allocated along confession-based cleavages. Additionally, they discuss the strategies through which Lebanese civil society collectives push back against government pressures and defend, as well as expand, their available room for manoeuvre. The strategies of two recent opposition movements are analysed: (i) the coalition ‘Kollouna Watani’, a crossover into politics for the 2018 Lebanese elections by actors originally associated with civil society organizations, and (ii) the mass protest movement starting in October 2019. The findings highlight these non-sectarian movements’ potential to promote cooperation among the fragmented realms of civil society, as well as the hardships of challenging well-established elites and their interests via formal politicization. In doing so, they also show the potential and agency of civil society to counter the phenomenon of shrinking civic space.","PeriodicalId":46013,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Civil Society","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2021-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41350938","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}
Pub Date : 2021-10-02DOI: 10.1080/17448689.2021.2003139
Sandra Grahn, Anna Lührmann
ABSTRACT The impact of civil society on democracy is contested. Some argue that Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) are important ‘schools of democracy’ and may foster democratic consolidation. Others emphasize that anti-democratic CSOs may undermine democracy. This debate is particularly relevant in the context of newly independent states. At that critical juncture, both democratic and authoritarian regime trajectories are possible. Societal preconditions – such as the state of civil society – can therefore be particularly relevant for the way forward. To what extent does the nature of CSOs prior to independence has an impact on the subsequent level of democracy? We argue that the existence of democratic CSOs prior to independence strengthens post-independence democracy whereas non-democratic CSOs have a detrimental effect. For the first time, this argument is empirically tested, using Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) data on 91 cases of independence since 1905. The empirical results demonstrate that the presence of democratic CSOs prior to independence is positively correlated, whereas non-democratic CSOs are negatively correlated to democracy levels following independence.
{"title":"Good seed makes a good crop? The relationship between civil society and post-independence democracy levels","authors":"Sandra Grahn, Anna Lührmann","doi":"10.1080/17448689.2021.2003139","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17448689.2021.2003139","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The impact of civil society on democracy is contested. Some argue that Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) are important ‘schools of democracy’ and may foster democratic consolidation. Others emphasize that anti-democratic CSOs may undermine democracy. This debate is particularly relevant in the context of newly independent states. At that critical juncture, both democratic and authoritarian regime trajectories are possible. Societal preconditions – such as the state of civil society – can therefore be particularly relevant for the way forward. To what extent does the nature of CSOs prior to independence has an impact on the subsequent level of democracy? We argue that the existence of democratic CSOs prior to independence strengthens post-independence democracy whereas non-democratic CSOs have a detrimental effect. For the first time, this argument is empirically tested, using Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) data on 91 cases of independence since 1905. The empirical results demonstrate that the presence of democratic CSOs prior to independence is positively correlated, whereas non-democratic CSOs are negatively correlated to democracy levels following independence.","PeriodicalId":46013,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Civil Society","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2021-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42804084","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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