Dangerous, Commendable or Compliant: How Nordic People Think About Volunteers as Providers of Public Welfare Services

Sivilsamfunnets roller i velferdsstatens omstilling

“…For noen er det viktigst å fremme ideell velferdsproduksjon som alternativ til det offentlige tilbudet, mens for andre fremmes det som alternativ til de profittbaserte tjenestene i markedet. Argumenter som ofte rettes mot å øke ideell velferdsproduksjon er blant annet at man vil sikre likebehandling og kvalitet i tjenestene, det handler om synspunkter på de såkalte «velferdsprofittørene» og muligheten for å kunne ta ut profitt fra velferdsproduksjonen, og det handler også om å ville beskytte offentlige stillinger med gode pensjonsrettigheter (Frederiksen, 2015). Innvandringen og fremveksten av et mer fler-religiøst samfunn i Norge gir et nytt grunnlag for tjenesteproduksjon på alternativt ideologisk grunnlag, men kan igjen også aktualisere skepsisen mot at religion og livssyn får for stor plass i velferdsproduksjonen.…”

Not just “sweet old ladies” – Challenges in voluntary work in the municipal long-term care services

“…Since welfare states in the western world are under increasing fiscal pressure to provide safe, effective and sustainable health and social care, new models of service provision are being sought within civil society (Frederiksen, 2015;Trägårdh, Selle, Henriksen, & Hallin, 2013). Norway is no exception, as the costs of maintaining the current level of welfare are expected to increase in the near future.…”

Rescuing Welfare Society: Political Strategies for Mobilizing Civil Society in Denmark, 2010–2018

“…This is also the case in Denmark. Even though the discourse of civil society organizations has been present for many years, "political discourse on activating civil society and involving volunteers in the delivery of public welfare services has increased" since the beginning of the 2000s (Frederiksen 2015(Frederiksen , p. 1742. All governments have since then emphasized the importance of the voluntary effort in governmental and policy programmes (Fridberg and Skov Henriksen 2014, p. 16).…”

“…The article argues that civil society plays a central role in the Western socio-political imaginary given its attributes of social cohesion, democratization processes, communication and voluntarism (Cohen and Arato 1999;Habermas 2001) and thereby forms a discursive trope apt to legitimize reforms of the public sector, especially in a country like Denmark where public sector social provision is viewed with a high degree of positivity (Frederiksen 2015). This is especially the case at a time where the state, political elites and the global order find themselves in a crisis of legitimacy because of the recession following the financial crisis, welfare retrenchment, unemployment and increased immigration.…”

“…The article contributes to the growing discussion about the increased civil society inclusion in the provision of social services and the notions of manufacturing and reconstructing civil society (Brandsen et al 2017;, the literature on Foucault and civil society (Dean and Villadsen 2016;Villadsen 2016; Villadsen and Dean 2012) as well as the literature about the 'welfare mix' or 'hybridity' of social service provision between state, market and civil society actors in Denmark and the increasing role of civil society, third sector and voluntary organizations in Danish welfare society (Frederiksen 2015;Henriksen et al 2012Henriksen et al , 2015Henriksen and Bundesen 2004;Kaspersen and Ottesen 2006;La Cour 2014). It does so by analyzing Danish civil society strategies and how they construct civil society, the role of civil society organizations and how civil society becomes a plane of reference to distinguish between good and bad ways of governing and how civil society and civil society organizations are being posited as the saviors and rescuers of Danish welfare society.…”