{"title":"Selective inclusion under competitive autocratic regimes: An example from the Turkish educational civil society","authors":"O. Tuncel","doi":"10.1080/17448689.2023.2206152","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17448689.2023.2206152","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This article attempts to explain the role of the educational civil society in Turkey from 2003 to 2012, where the regime excessively co-opts and controls associational life while maintaining a veneer of nominal compliance with democratic values. While existing studies fail to explain how the state interacts with these organizations during regime transitions, this research addresses this gap by adopting two educational policy periods as a case study. Thus, it shows the role of civil society under competitive autocratic regimes and which mechanisms the state uses in its shifting approach to civil society organizations in policymaking. This article claims that the state co-opts government-friendly civil society organizations and alters existing laws and regulations of educational institutions to keep the facade of democracy. Competitive autocratic state structure and its limited capacity, however, compel the regime to include different civil society organizations into the policymaking. Additionally, these organizations’ extensive knowledge and expertise are indispensable and invaluable resources the state needs to implement policies. Based on elite interviews of state officials and civil society organizations, and extensive document research, this article presents crucial insights on how competitive autocratic regimes adapt their approach to civil society.","PeriodicalId":46013,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Civil Society","volume":"19 1","pages":"232 - 250"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2023-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42261519","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}
{"title":"Theorizing inequalities in volunteering: Structural effects and social organization in deprived neighbourhoods","authors":"R. Dacombe","doi":"10.1080/17448689.2023.2206149","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17448689.2023.2206149","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This article focuses on the relationship between volunteering and socio-economic status, suggesting that the insights provided by social organization theory can contribute to explanations of low levels of volunteering in areas exhibiting high levels of deprivation. The piece aims to provide a complementary framework to work alongside existing theories of inequalities in voluntary action, to reach towards an account which elucidates the role of structural factors in affecting the likelihood of volunteering in deprived areas. The article illustrates value of such an approach through an account of ethnographic research in a deprived neighbourhood in England, suggesting that by paying close attention to the configurations of social life in such areas it is possible to shed new light on the relationship between deprivation and volunteering.","PeriodicalId":46013,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Civil Society","volume":"19 1","pages":"175 - 192"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2023-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44224747","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}
{"title":"Critical citizenship and civic participation in three generations of Russian Israelis","authors":"L. Remennick, Anna Prashizky","doi":"10.1080/17448689.2023.2206159","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17448689.2023.2206159","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Civic behaviour of immigrants reflects both their pre-migration political socialization and the exposure to new political realities in the host country. Jewish immigrants to Israel receive citizenship soon upon arrival and are endowed with all political and economic rights in their adopted country. This essay highlights the long-term dynamics of civic attitudes and participation in three consecutive generations of ex-Soviet Israelis: from adult migrants (Gen 1.0) to their USSR/FSU-born children socialized mostly in Israel (Gen 1.5), and the Israeli-born Gen 2.0. Drawing on the combined analysis of national surveys and qualitative studies conducted over the last 20+ years, we examine shifts in attitudes and practices of citizenship reflected in voting patterns, volunteering, feelings of belonging, and ethnic mobilization for common community causes. We discuss the shifting civic agendas of Russian-speaking Israelis: from mainly economically driven during the 1990s to mainly symbolic and ethno-national since the early 2000s. Our analysis contributes to theoretical discussions on critical citizenship and sub-politics in immigrant-receiving societies.","PeriodicalId":46013,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Civil Society","volume":"19 1","pages":"140 - 155"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2023-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49517485","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}
{"title":"Understanding polycentrically organized movements: An analysis of the Slow Food and Fair Trade movements in Europe","authors":"Noha Shawki, Melissa Schnyder","doi":"10.1080/17448689.2023.2206153","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17448689.2023.2206153","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT\u0000 The Slow Food movement and the fair trade movements have in the past been described as lifestyle movements and defined and understood in terms of their lack of explicit political commitments. In this article we consider the extent to which this view is still true today, drawing on the concept of polycentricity to describe and reflect on the activities of these polycentrically organized movements. The theoretically informed discussion we provide offers a nuanced account of each movement and its effort to engage in different kinds of activities in different contexts that all contribute to advancing its vision. We argue that while activities typical of lifestyle movements are still common in both movements, their overall orientations are more explicitly political than they perhaps once were. While some political activity is local and intended to bring about fairly limited reforms, both movements seek more transformative change at the national and EU levels.","PeriodicalId":46013,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Civil Society","volume":"19 1","pages":"156 - 174"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2023-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44413362","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}
{"title":"The radicals watched from the sidelines or the ambivalent citizens’ relations to radicalism in a poor Montreal neighbourhood","authors":"C. Patsias","doi":"10.1080/17448689.2023.2206155","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17448689.2023.2206155","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This analysis seeks to understand the appropriation or rejection of radicalism by two groups in a poor and immigrant neighbourhood of Montreal. Yet although both defend the same causes and share the same progressive dimension, one presents itself as a group of non-radical citizens while the other presents itself as a group of radical activists. So for each group, what do these different definitions of identity enfold: citizens versus militants, non-radicals versus radicals? More than the acceptance and the use of violence, the investigation’s results reveal that the divergences observed illustrate a different construction of the intersection between social class, cultural or ethnic identity, and global and local boundaries. These different ways of conceiving the intersection shape specific democratic practices and relations to politics. This analysis outlines the relevance of not restricting the reflection on radicalism to a focus on the repertoire of collective action but rather exploring its meanings for citizens in their daily lives and its implications for their relations to politics. Finally, it also offers a concrete picture of left-wing ideological tensions and debates and how some grass roots organizations try (or do not try) to resolve them.","PeriodicalId":46013,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Civil Society","volume":"19 1","pages":"119 - 139"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2023-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43477616","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}
{"title":"The political frame of a housing crisis: Campaigning for the right to housing in Ireland","authors":"Valesca Lima","doi":"10.1080/17448689.2023.2206158","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17448689.2023.2206158","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This article examines the politicized discourse employed by housing movement to shift long-standing narratives around housing, that attempt to shape the national debate over Ireland’s housing crisis. Amid issues of housing insecurity and affordability, homelessness in particular has become a hotly debated issue over the past decade and images of increasing family homelessness as a consequence of the housing crisis have sparked public outrage. Campaigners and activists have challenged the government’s market-based policy responses and demanded housing that is accessible to those who need it. The results show that while the narratives used by activists to change housing policy were somewhat successful in raising the issue of homelessness as a housing problem, the movement was less effective in motivating public concerns around housing as a fundamental right and in building a larger mass housing movement.","PeriodicalId":46013,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Civil Society","volume":"19 1","pages":"37 - 56"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2023-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46090061","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}
{"title":"Why the network coordinator matters: The importance of learning, innovation, and governance structure in coproduction networks","authors":"Sungdae Lim, Sarah L. Young","doi":"10.1080/17448689.2023.2206157","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17448689.2023.2206157","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT What drives citizens to coproduce public services? We critically assess the extant literature on organizational learning, innovation, and cross-sector partnerships and situate each within the coproduction frameworks. We theorize a moderated mediation model that reasons organizational learning and external partnerships drive innovation within public service networks, which in turn motivates both user and community coproduction. Networks are coordinated by organizations across nonprofit and public sectors. We argue that the coordinating organization’s governance structure moderates its innovative capacity for the resulting coproduction. We conduct second-stage structural equation modelling analyses by employing Area Agencies on Aging, statutorily empowered to coordinate the U.S. aging service network across sectors. We found that public service networks innovate through the learning processes, that innovation mediates the learning effects to motivate user and community coproduction, and that nonprofit innovations better accelerate user coproduction. Ultimately, citizens coproduce service outcomes when the network coordinator drives changes.","PeriodicalId":46013,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Civil Society","volume":"19 1","pages":"94 - 118"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2023-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"60388294","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}
{"title":"The good, the bad, and the ugly – Involving civil society organizations in Nordic policy for preventing extremism","authors":"Jennie Sivenbring, Robin Andersson Malmros","doi":"10.1080/17448689.2023.2206150","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17448689.2023.2206150","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT In this article, we use critical policy analysis to explore how Nordic national policies express the purposes and positions of civil society organizations (CSOs) in efforts to prevent violent extremism (PVE). Furthermore, we analyze how the problem of extremism is constituted by this involvement. While the paper finds that CSOs are positioned as important actors, much due to their autonomous character and their legitimacy among target groups, the purposes and measures suggested in policy may harm their voluntary character. Furthermore, the analysis shows that the problem with extremism is mainly placed within the realms of religious communities and thereby runs the risk of (re)producing ideas of Islam as an extreme, anti-democratic religion. In extension, the well-intended involvement of CSOs in policy to prevent violent extremism might, in its current form, jeopardize the democratic rights of freedom of organization and freedom of speech and religion.","PeriodicalId":46013,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Civil Society","volume":"19 1","pages":"1 - 19"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2023-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49385787","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}
{"title":"‘Lives over profits! Bread not bullets!’: A people’s coalition for good governance in South Africa’s state of disaster","authors":"Sokfa F John, B. Mubangizi","doi":"10.1080/17448689.2023.2206151","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17448689.2023.2206151","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT While the COVID-19 pandemic and state response negatively impact government and society alike, the need for public accountability and responsiveness, and the role of civil society in ensuring this has not declined. This article examines how the Covid-19 People’s Coalition in South Africa navigated lockdown restrictions to mobilize civil society for participation in governance by demanding effective, just, transparent and responsive COVID-19 policy and practice. Based on analysis of over 40 public statements, the article shows a predominantly negative sentiment in the Covid-19 Coalition’s reaction to South Africa’s COVID-19 response. Government response was primarily assessed as inadequate, exclusive, anti-poor and vulnerable, violent, and prioritizing socioeconomic concerns that are removed from the realities of the masses. The Coalition offers an example of innovative, people-centered, contextual and bottom-up approach to civil participation. It spoke for the vulnerable and demanded accountable leadership, while highlighting longstanding challenges that have not been effectively addressed. Overlooking such problems undermines the government's ability to tackle crises and achieve good governance. It is recommended that the Coalition balances its criticism with more hands-on and constructive approaches such as exploring avenues for collaboration with government to achieve desired change.","PeriodicalId":46013,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Civil Society","volume":"19 1","pages":"76 - 93"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2023-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45599448","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}
B. Ibsen, Karsten Elmose-Østerlund, Evald Bundgaard Iversen, Jens Høyer-Kruse, Marlene Rosager Lund Pedersen
{"title":"Civil society’s impact on quality of life","authors":"B. Ibsen, Karsten Elmose-Østerlund, Evald Bundgaard Iversen, Jens Høyer-Kruse, Marlene Rosager Lund Pedersen","doi":"10.1080/17448689.2023.2206148","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17448689.2023.2206148","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The purpose of the article is to analyze the impact of three forms of involvement in organized civil society – as ‘participant’, as ‘member’ and as ‘volunteer’ – on self-assessed quality of life when checking for coherence between the three forms of participation. The article is inspired by both Lim and Putnam’s claim that close social networks around meaningful and identity-bearing activities increase self-assessed quality of life and Stebbins’ claim that life satisfaction is an essential by-product of ‘serious leisure’. This article utilizes data from a digital survey study conducted among adult citizens in Denmark, which 2514 citizens answered. The questionnaire contained a broad range of questions regarding participation in leisure activities, membership in associations, engagement in voluntary work, subjective life-satisfaction, self-assessed health and social background of the respondents. The statistical regression analysis shows a correlation between volunteering in general and self-assessed quality of life, but the correlation is relatively weak. However, the analysis does not show a significant correlation between the quality of life and membership in an association and participation in ‘serious leisure’. Of the other variables included, self-assessed health, in particular, contributes to explaining the variation in self-assessed quality of life.","PeriodicalId":46013,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Civil Society","volume":"19 1","pages":"57 - 75"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2023-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49076188","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}