Conference: Third Sector Organizations
14 November 2008 - 15 November 2008
Germany
The second conference of the CINEFOGO work package “Third Sector Organizations facing turbulent environments: the impact of commercialization on organizational legitimacy and the quality of services” took place in Berlin on the 14th and 15th of November 2008. The conference, organized as a joint project of the Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen and the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, aimed at analyzing the blurring of boundaries between state, market, communities and the third sector. Thirteen experts from Italy, Poland, the UK, Sweden and Germany participated in the Berlin conference.
Focusing on three policy fields – social services, culture and arts and sports – the purpose of the conference, as emphasized in the synopsis of the first conference in Gießen (April 2008), was to concentrate on three points: (1) Profiles of TSOs: what about the role of volunteers and professionals, the balance of their activities and of the groups they address? What does organisational change mean in this respect?; (2) New mixes and forms of governance, characterized by changing sets of resources, impact of stakeholders, division of tasks and responsibilities. What kind of socioeconomic, cultural and political embeddedness is taking shape?; (3) Identity and mission of the organisations concerned. Are they able to sail in this turbulent environment, just surfing on trends or victimized by the winds of change?
The conference started with four short presentations on a comparative perspective on the Polish, German Italian and UK Third Sectors which were based on the major findings of the first meeting in Gießen.
Cathy Pharoah’s presentation enriched the picture of the UK in terms of arts and culture. Pharoah concluded by identifying the upcoming challenges for the sector, such as the protection and support of the alternative scene (‘grassroots’) and the sustainability of the role of arts and culture in innovation and social change within an environment of increasing marketisation.
Johan Norberg analysed the development of the Swedish sports movement between state, market and civil society. According to Norberg there is a transformation of sport as cultural phenomenon – like the establishment of commercial gyms and training facilities – whereas membership in traditional sports clubs and voluntary work remains remarkably stable or is even growing. Voluntary efforts, member fees and public grants are still the factors that primarily control the extent and direction of their activities.
Lars-Erik Olsson and Lars Svedberg came up with the question whether there is a Swedish case with regard to welfare provision and third sector organisations. Olsson and Svedberg argued that the Swedish population are in favour of an ”independent” third sector despite the fact that third sector organisations have a limited share of welfare production in Sweden. Private companies are rapidily expanding in the field of welfare production and there is an emerging political interest and recognition from left-wing to right-wing parties.
Tobias Harding, expert for culture and arts in Sweden, presented a complex picture of challenges for third sector organizations engaged in this field by tracing the pluralism, complexity and fragmentation within organizational orientations.
Apostolis Papakostas’ contribution dealt with the more general development of civil society organisations, their members and resources in Sweden. Papakostas argued that nowadays in Sweden the number of organizations has increased. However new organizations are mostly “one question” organizations that are acting in a fragmented civil society. They are marked by a personalization of politics and an inverted relationship between proximity and distance regarding ordinary members and organizational leaders.
The workshop closed with recommendations for the final revision of the contributions by Annette Zimmer. With regard to the planned publication at Nomos Publishing House the contributions should be streamlined alongside the overarching research topic of the CINEFOGO work package.
The participants agreed upon a general structure for their contributions. Each paper (18 pages, incl. references) should focus on the following aspects to be treated in subsequent parts:
• Abstract (0,5 page)
• Introduction (1 page)
• Historical development (2-3 pages)
? incl. role of church and state
• Overview of the policy field and statistical profile of TSOs in the policy field (if available) (5 pages)
o Legal form
o Funding and income
o Volunteering and employment
o Role of the EU
• Recent changes and challenges (5 pages)
• Conclusion (1 page)
Furthermore, the participants reached an agreement with respect to the reshaping of their contributions presented at the two conferences. Macro, meso and micro level should be taken into consideration and linked to the respective political field (social services, culture and arts and sports) in each of the papers:
Macro Level (state)
• Modernization
• Policies of identity
• Development of the welfare state
Meso level (organizations)
• Governance (embeddedness)
• Governance (managerialism)
Micro Level (individuals)
• Societal driving forces (actors and socials movements)
• Integration, empowerment, values
• Social conflicts
The altogether fifteen contributions will be complemented by an introduction of Annette Zimmer and Adalbert Evers. It will deal especially with crosscut questions such as trans-national differences and communalities in the respective policy field, or, vice versa, the impact of national arenas across the chosen fields. A comparative conclusion of the editors relates the findings to the mainstream literature of social sciences.About CINEFOGO
CINEFOGO is an acronym for Network of Excellence “Civil Society and New Forms of Governance in Europe – the Making of European Citizenship”. CINEFOGO aims at enhancing the understanding of social and democratic processes, citizenship and democratic participation in Europe. It seeks to provide knowledge about civil society, citizenship and social protection, nourish a public debate on governance and strengthen intellectual co-operation. To learn more on CINEFOGO, visit http://www.cinefogo.org(opens in new window) or send an e-mail to cinefogo@ruc.dk. The CINEFOGO Network of Excellence is supported by the European Commission within the Sixth Framework Programme, Priority 7: New Forms of Citizenship and Cultural Identities of the European Union.
Focusing on three policy fields – social services, culture and arts and sports – the purpose of the conference, as emphasized in the synopsis of the first conference in Gießen (April 2008), was to concentrate on three points: (1) Profiles of TSOs: what about the role of volunteers and professionals, the balance of their activities and of the groups they address? What does organisational change mean in this respect?; (2) New mixes and forms of governance, characterized by changing sets of resources, impact of stakeholders, division of tasks and responsibilities. What kind of socioeconomic, cultural and political embeddedness is taking shape?; (3) Identity and mission of the organisations concerned. Are they able to sail in this turbulent environment, just surfing on trends or victimized by the winds of change?
The conference started with four short presentations on a comparative perspective on the Polish, German Italian and UK Third Sectors which were based on the major findings of the first meeting in Gießen.
Cathy Pharoah’s presentation enriched the picture of the UK in terms of arts and culture. Pharoah concluded by identifying the upcoming challenges for the sector, such as the protection and support of the alternative scene (‘grassroots’) and the sustainability of the role of arts and culture in innovation and social change within an environment of increasing marketisation.
Johan Norberg analysed the development of the Swedish sports movement between state, market and civil society. According to Norberg there is a transformation of sport as cultural phenomenon – like the establishment of commercial gyms and training facilities – whereas membership in traditional sports clubs and voluntary work remains remarkably stable or is even growing. Voluntary efforts, member fees and public grants are still the factors that primarily control the extent and direction of their activities.
Lars-Erik Olsson and Lars Svedberg came up with the question whether there is a Swedish case with regard to welfare provision and third sector organisations. Olsson and Svedberg argued that the Swedish population are in favour of an ”independent” third sector despite the fact that third sector organisations have a limited share of welfare production in Sweden. Private companies are rapidily expanding in the field of welfare production and there is an emerging political interest and recognition from left-wing to right-wing parties.
Tobias Harding, expert for culture and arts in Sweden, presented a complex picture of challenges for third sector organizations engaged in this field by tracing the pluralism, complexity and fragmentation within organizational orientations.
Apostolis Papakostas’ contribution dealt with the more general development of civil society organisations, their members and resources in Sweden. Papakostas argued that nowadays in Sweden the number of organizations has increased. However new organizations are mostly “one question” organizations that are acting in a fragmented civil society. They are marked by a personalization of politics and an inverted relationship between proximity and distance regarding ordinary members and organizational leaders.
The workshop closed with recommendations for the final revision of the contributions by Annette Zimmer. With regard to the planned publication at Nomos Publishing House the contributions should be streamlined alongside the overarching research topic of the CINEFOGO work package.
The participants agreed upon a general structure for their contributions. Each paper (18 pages, incl. references) should focus on the following aspects to be treated in subsequent parts:
• Abstract (0,5 page)
• Introduction (1 page)
• Historical development (2-3 pages)
? incl. role of church and state
• Overview of the policy field and statistical profile of TSOs in the policy field (if available) (5 pages)
o Legal form
o Funding and income
o Volunteering and employment
o Role of the EU
• Recent changes and challenges (5 pages)
• Conclusion (1 page)
Furthermore, the participants reached an agreement with respect to the reshaping of their contributions presented at the two conferences. Macro, meso and micro level should be taken into consideration and linked to the respective political field (social services, culture and arts and sports) in each of the papers:
Macro Level (state)
• Modernization
• Policies of identity
• Development of the welfare state
Meso level (organizations)
• Governance (embeddedness)
• Governance (managerialism)
Micro Level (individuals)
• Societal driving forces (actors and socials movements)
• Integration, empowerment, values
• Social conflicts
The altogether fifteen contributions will be complemented by an introduction of Annette Zimmer and Adalbert Evers. It will deal especially with crosscut questions such as trans-national differences and communalities in the respective policy field, or, vice versa, the impact of national arenas across the chosen fields. A comparative conclusion of the editors relates the findings to the mainstream literature of social sciences.About CINEFOGO
CINEFOGO is an acronym for Network of Excellence “Civil Society and New Forms of Governance in Europe – the Making of European Citizenship”. CINEFOGO aims at enhancing the understanding of social and democratic processes, citizenship and democratic participation in Europe. It seeks to provide knowledge about civil society, citizenship and social protection, nourish a public debate on governance and strengthen intellectual co-operation. To learn more on CINEFOGO, visit http://www.cinefogo.org(opens in new window) or send an e-mail to cinefogo@ruc.dk. The CINEFOGO Network of Excellence is supported by the European Commission within the Sixth Framework Programme, Priority 7: New Forms of Citizenship and Cultural Identities of the European Union.