On the Changing Civic Landscape in Denmark and its Consequences for Civic Action

Grubb, Ane; Henriksen, Lars Skov

doi:10.1007/s11266-018-00054-8

Cited by 23 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…The dominant theories of volunteering thus neglect the variety of volunteering dynamics that may characterize specific sectors and forms of volunteering (as indicated by Meyer & Rameder, 2021 —this issue; Overgaard et al, 2018 ; Skirstad & Handstad, 2013 ). They also provide little insight into either inter -organizational hierarchies or intra -organizational status differences and power dynamics between volunteers, professionals, and beneficiaries (e.g., Grubb & Henriksen, 2019 ; Hustinx & De Waele, 2015 ; Krinsky & Simonet, 2017 ; Overbeeke et al, 2021 —this issue; Ostrower, 2002 ; Rogers, 2015 ). Third, these approaches adopt a stance of methodological individualism, grounding the decision to volunteer on a rational-choice framework, constructing individuals as rational, utilitarian actors who decide to volunteer based on the expectation of some benefit (Handy et al, 2000 ; Musick & Wilson, 2008 ; Qvist, 2018 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Through the interactionist lens, intra-organizational inequalities are dynamic phenomena, produced or resisted as volunteers, beneficiaries, and other actors practice and coordinate mundane tasks (Eliasoph & Lichterman, 2003 ; Lichterman & Eliasoph, 2014 ). Ethnographic studies of such everyday interactions reveal that ideals of inclusion, egalitarian interaction, and civic empowerment typically associated with volunteer-involving organizations are difficult to practice and easily overruled by more pragmatic, strategic organizational concerns (Eliasoph, 2011 ; Grubb & Henriksen, 2019 ; Hustinx & De Waele, 2015 ). Although social inequalities inevitably emerge among groups of socially diverse actors, they may not be addressed explicitly, given the prevailing cultural script on volunteering.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Inequality in Volunteering: Building a New Research Front

et al. 2022

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Volunteering research focuses predominantly on predicting participation in volunteering, proceeding from the quasi-hegemonic foundation of resource theory and dominant-status theory. Empirical research in this tradition has provided extremely robust evidence that dominant groups in society are more likely to volunteer. At the same time, it has reinforced the status quo in the production of knowledge on volunteering, thereby neglecting the clear problematic of “inequality in volunteering.” Compared to the guiding question of “participation,” the concept of “inequality” can generate a more variegated, critical, and change-oriented research agenda. With this special issue, we aim to build a “new research front” in the field of volunteering. In this introduction, we advance a novel research agenda structured around a multidimensional understanding of inequality, concomitantly delineating four central research programs focusing on (a) resources, (b) interactions, (c) governmentalities, and (d) epistemologies. We discuss the focus of these lines of research in greater detail with respect to inequality in volunteering, their main critique of dominant research on participation in volunteering, and key elements of the new research agenda.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inequality in Volunteering: Building a New Research Front

et al. 2022

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“…A few introductory remarks on the governance context of rural Denmark are necessary before proceeding. First, since the early 1990s the state-civic interface has been gradually instrumentalised with state actors increasingly seeing ‘voluntary social work as part of the social service provision in a hard-pressed welfare state’ (Grubb and Henriksen, 2019: 62). Second, state and philanthropic support for village associations has come under a regime of competition where rural places vie for limited funds (Nørgaard and Thuesen, 2021).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Micropolitical practices of multispatial metagovernance in rural Denmark

Fisker

Johansen

Thuesen

2022

Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space

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Research on governance, network governance and metagovernance has shown how the practice of governing involves a diversity of actors in and beyond the state. Much attention has been paid to the role of powerful state and non-state actors while less consideration has been directed at less visible and marginalised actors who are recognised as participants but whose agency is rarely subjected to in-depth research. In this article, we address this lack by studying the micropolitical practices of place-based self-governing networks in the Danish countryside and their role in governing rural places. Our theoretical point of departure is Bob Jessop’s notion of multispatial metagovernance which we seek to enhance by considering marginalised actors around the edges of the state apparatus. Our findings suggest that these marginalised and overlooked actors are not just subjected to governance but actively partake in shaping the governance landscape by enveloping rural places for self-governance in four distinct ways: (1) subverting municipal micro-technologies of power; (2) filling the void created by scalar fixes; (3) keeping local organising efforts fluid and opaque to outsiders and (4) orchestrating strategically selective cooperation with extra-local actors. Without downplaying asymmetries of power and their influence on governance outcomes, we conclude that metagovernance and collibration are not just prerogatives of the powerful. Generating adequate understandings of such practices is therefore only possible if we consider the full breadth of involved actors without taking for granted that outcomes are always decided in advance by the powerful. The study that the article reports on shows one of the ways in which this task may be approached empirically.

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“…The wider national context of the study is Denmark, a Scandinavian welfare state considered a world leader in digitalization (Eimhjellen, 2019 ). Moreover, tendencies towards competition, marketization, and professionalization have been observed to be increasing within the Danish third sector (Grubb and Henriksen 2019 ). While insights from the single case study of PVT cannot be generalized in the statistical sense, they may nevertheless serve as a point of departure for further studies on how digitalization and increased competition in interdependency affect intra-organizational sensemaking and interaction in voluntary organizations.…”

Section: The Case Study Of Project Virtual Tutoringmentioning

confidence: 99%

Avoiding Intimacy—An Ethnographic Study of Beneficent Boundaries in Virtual Voluntary Social Work

Grubb¹

2021

Voluntas

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Within the rich literature on volunteering, the topic of volunteer–user interaction and the mechanisms causing or mitigating inequality in this interaction remain understudied. Moreover, knowledge on how digitalization affects voluntary interaction is scarce. Based on a qualitative study of a Danish organization that offers virtual voluntary tutoring, this paper shows how technological and formal aspects of the organizational context may mitigate the risk of volunteers engaging in paternalistic, intimacy-seeking behaviour. First, reliance on information and communications technology (ICT) and managerial logics sustains a bounded form of interaction in which solving a problem is the focal point, while access to personal background information is limited. Second, the organizational design suspends sociability as a criterion for differential treatment of users. Third, anonymous mediated interaction enables temporal and audio–visual asymmetry, allowing users to perform ‘digitally sustained impression management’.

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On the Changing Civic Landscape in Denmark and its Consequences for Civic Action

Cited by 23 publications

References 27 publications

Inequality in Volunteering: Building a New Research Front

Inequality in Volunteering: Building a New Research Front

Micropolitical practices of multispatial metagovernance in rural Denmark

Avoiding Intimacy—An Ethnographic Study of Beneficent Boundaries in Virtual Voluntary Social Work

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