Abstract
As a consequence of European integration and the EU’s expanded social policy, more citizens’ interests are today organized at EU level. In the case of the women’s movement, there is an umbrella organization—the European Women’s Lobby (EWL)—in place in Brussels coordinating national women’s movements. The EWL demands from its members that they be nationwide and representative umbrellas, which has structuring effects on the women’s movements at domestic level. This article proposes to study the Europeanization of civil society through the lens of meta-organization theory (Ahrne & Brunsson 2008). Europeanization can thus be understood as a process which imposes meta-organizational structures on civil society. Through a case study of the Swedish Women’s Lobby, this article analyses the consequences for the women’s movement in Sweden of the meta-organizational structure brought into being by Europeanization.
Résumé
En conséquence de l’intégration européenne et de la politique sociale étendue à l’UE, les intérêts des citoyens sont aujourd’hui davantage organisés au niveau de l’UE. Dans le cas du mouvement féministe, le Lobby européen des femmes (LEF), une coalition d’associations de femmes établie à Bruxelles, coordonne les associations féministes nationales. Le LEF exige de ses associations membres qu’elles soient nationales et représentatives, ce qui a des effets structurants sur les mouvements féministes au niveau domestique. Cet article propose d’étudier l’européanisation de la société civile au travers du prisme de la théorie des méta-organisations (Ahrne and Brunsson 2008). L’européanisation peut alors être appréhendée comme un processus imposant des structures méta-organisationnelles à la société civile. À travers l’étude de cas du Lobby suédois des femmes, cet article analyse les conséquences qu’implique la structure méta-organisationnelle née de l’européanisation sur le mouvement féministe en Suède.
Zusammenfassung
Infolge der europäischen Integration und der erweiterten EU-Sozialpolitik werden heutzutage mehr Bürgerinteressen auf EU-Ebene organisiert. Die Frauenbewegung zum Beispiel untersteht einer Dachorganisation - der Europäischen Frauenlobby (European Women’s Lobby, EWL) - die ihren Sitz in Brüssel hat und die Frauenbewegungen der einzelnen Länder koordiniert. Die EWL verlangt von ihren Mitgliedern, dass sie landesweite stellvertretende Dachorganisationen sind, was eine Strukturierungswirkung auf die Frauenbewegungen auf der Landesebene hat. Der Beitrag schlägt eine Untersuchung der Europäisierung der Bürgergesellschaft aus der Perspektive der Metaorganisationstheorie (Ahrne and Brunsson 2008) vor. Die Europäisierung kann somit als ein Prozess verstanden werden, bei dem der Bürgergesellschaft metaorganisationale Strukturen auferlegt werden. Mittels einer Fallstudie der schwedischen Frauenlobby analysiert dieser Beitrag, wie sich die infolge der Europäisierung entstandene Metaorganisationsstruktur auf die Frauenbewegung in Schweden auswirkt.
Resumen
Como consecuencia de la integración europea y de la expansión de la política social de la UE, cada vez más los intereses de más ciudadanos están organizados en la actualidad a nivel de la UE. En el caso del movimiento de mujeres, existe una organización paraguas - el European Women’s Lobby (EWL) - establecida en Bruselas que coordina los movimientos nacionales de mujeres. El EWL exige a sus miembros que tengan ámbito nacional y que sean paraguas representativos, lo que tiene efectos estructurantes sobre los movimientos de mujeres a nivel nacional. El presente artículo propone estudiar la Europeización de la sociedad civil a través de la lente de la teoría de la metaorganización (Ahme and Brunson 2008). De este modo, la Europeización puede ser entendida como un proceso que impone estructuras metaorganizativas sobre la sociedad civil. Mediante un estudio de casos del Swedish Women’s Lobby, el presente artículo analiza las consecuencias para el movimiento de mujeres en Suecia de la estructura metaorganizativa creada por la Europeización.
摘要
随着欧洲一体化进程和欧盟扩大化其社会政策,如今更多公民的社会兴趣开始集中在整个欧盟层面上。设立于布鲁塞尔的欧洲妇女游说团(EWL)是妇女运动方面的一个全欧洲总机构,协调各国范围内的各项妇女运动。欧洲妇女游说团要求其下属会员机构负责担任各自国内的总代表机构,在国内层次的妇女运动方面起到结构性影响作用。本文试图通过本体机构理论(Ahrne and Brunsson 2008)角度来分析公民社会的欧洲化倾向。从这个角度上,“欧洲化”可以理解为能够导致公民社会组建本体机构的一种进程。通过对瑞典妇女游说团的案例研究,文章分析了欧洲化进程导致的本体机构结构为瑞典妇女运动带来的影响。
ملخص
نتيجة التكامل الأوروبي والسياسة الإجتماعية الموسعة للإتحاد الأوروبي (EU)، مصالح أكثر للمواطنين اليوم تم تنظيمها على مستوى الإتحاد الأوروبي (EU). في حالة الحركة النسائية، هناك منظمة تحمي النساء– تقوم بتعزيز حقوق المرأة الأوروبية (EWL) - في مكان في بروكسل يتم تنسيق الحركات النسائية الوطنية. تطالب الجماعة الأوروبية لحمايةالنساء (EWL) من أعضائها أن يكونوا قوة ذات نفوذ على الصعيد الوطني وممثلين لمنظمة حماية المرأة، التي لها هيكلة تأثير على الحركات النسائية على المستوى المحلي. تقترح هذه المقالة دراسة تبني المجتمع المدني للأفكار الأوروبية من خلال الإستفادة و تطوير نظرية المنظمات (Ahrne وBrunsson 2008). هكذا يمكن فهم تبني الأفكار الأوروبية كإجراء يفرض الهياكل التنظيمية على المجتمع المدني. من خلال دراسة حالة تعزيزحقوق المرأة السويدية، هذه المقالة تحلل عواقب الحركة النسائية في السويد على الهياكل التنظيمية التي تم ظهورها إلى حيز الوجود عن طريق تبني الأفكار الأوروبية.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
Cf. Nytkis, founded in 1988 (see http://www.nytkis.org/) and Kvinderådet, founded already in 1899 (http://www.kvinderaad.dk/info/form%C3%A5l).
This has led to the formation of competing umbrella organizations, for instance the more conservative New Women for Europe (NWFE) whose focus is on family and “pro-life” issues (Rolandsen Agustín 2012, p. 32). The EWL has also been criticized for not being able to understand women’s issues and situations in former socialist countries which has led to new (East) European networks (Hašková 2005, p. 1103f; Roth 2007, p. 471).
References
Ahrne, G., & Brunsson, N. (2005). Organizations and meta-organizations. Scandinavian Journal of Management, 21, 429–449.
Ahrne, G., & Brunsson, N. (2008). Meta-organizations. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
Bretherton, C., & Sperling, L. (1996). Women’s networks and the European Union: Towards an inclusive approach? Journal of Common Market studies, 34(4), 487–508.
Císař, O., & Vráblíková, K. (2010). The Europeanization of Social Movements in the Czech Republic: The EU and Local Women’s Groups. Communist and Post-Communist Studies, 43, 209–219.
Cullen, P. (2008). Irish Women’s Organizations in an enlarged Europe. In S. Roth (Ed.), Gender politics in the Expanding European Union: Mobilization, inclusion, exclusion. New York: Berghahn.
Eising, R. (2007). Interest groups and social movements. In P. Graziano & M. Vink (Eds.), Europeanization: New research agendas. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Featherstone, K., & Radaelli, C. M. (Eds.). (2003). The politics of Europeanization. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Greenwood, J. (2007a). Interest representation in the European Union (2nd ed.). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Greenwood, J. (2007b). Organized civil society and democratic legitimacy in the European Union. British Journal of Political Science, 37(2), 333–357.
Hašková, H. (2005). Czech Women’s Civic organising under the State socialist regime, socio-economic transformation and the EU Accession Period. Czech Sociological Review, 41(6), 1077–1110.
Hathaway, W., & Meyer, D. S. (1993). Competition and cooperation in social movement coalitions: lobbying for peace in the 1980s. Berkeley Journal of Sociology, 38, 157–183.
Helfferich, B., & Kolb, F. (2001). Multilevel action coordination in European Contentious Politics: The case of the European Women’s Lobby. In R. Imig & G. Tarrow (Eds.), Contentious Europeans: Protest and politics in an emerging polity. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
Holzhacher, R. L. (2007). The Europeanization and transnationalization of civil society organizations striving for equality: Goals and strategies of gay and lesbian groups in Italy and the Netherlands. EUI Working Paper, 2007/36.
Hoskyns, C. (1991). The European Women’s Lobby. Feminist Review, 38, 67–70.
Jacobsson, K., & Johansson, H. (2009). The micro-politics of the OMC: NGOs and the social inclusion process in Sweden. In M. Heidenreich & J. Zeitlin (Eds.), Changing European employment and welfare regimes: The influence of the open method of coordination on national reforms. London: Routledge.
Johansson, H., & Lee, J. (2014). Bridging the gap: How do EU-based civil society organizations acquire their internal representation? Voluntas, 25, 405–424.
Keck, M. E., & Sikkink, K. (1998). Activists beyond borders: Advocacy networks in international politics. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Kendell, J. (2010). The limits and possibilities of third sector Europeanisation. Journal of Civil Society, 6(1), 39–65.
Kvinnofronten (2013a). Bakgrund. Retrieved November 4, 2013 from http://www.kvinnofronten.nu/bakgrund.htm.
Kvinnofronten (2013b). Helhetsperspektiv. Retrieved November 4, 2013 from http://www.kvinnofronten.nu/riksorg.htm.
Rek, M. (2010). Europeanization of Civil Society Sector in Central and Eastern Europe. Innovative Issues and Approaches in Social Sciences, 3(1), 160–186.
Rodekamp, M. (2014). Their members’ voice: Civil society organizations in the European Union. Wiesbaden: Springer.
Rolandsen Agustín, L. (2012). (Re)defining women’s interests? Political struggles over women’s collective representation in the context of the European Parliament. European Journal of Women’s Studies, 19(1), 23–40.
Roth, S. (2007). Sisterhood and solidarity? Women’s organizations in the expanded European Union. Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, 14(4), 460–487.
Staggenborg, S. (1986). Coalition work in the Pro-Choice Movement: Organizational and environmental opportunities and obstacles. Social Problems, 33(5), 374–390.
Stenberg, E. (2003). Lobbygrupp för kvinnor splittras. Published 2003-12-06, http://www.dn.se/nyheter/politik/lobbygrupp-for-kvinnor-splittras/.
Strid, S. (2009). Gendered interests in the European Union: The European women’s lobby and the organization and representation of women’s interests. Diss: Örebro University.
Sudbery, I. (2010). The European Union as political resource: NGOs as change agents? Acta Politica, 45, 136–157.
SWL. (1997a). Protokoll från Kvinnogruppernas möte för bildandet av en samverkansorganisation, lördagen den 1 februari 1997 i Immanuelskyrkan, Stockholm. Stockholm: SWL Archive.
SWL. (1997b). Ansökan om anslag för igångsättandet av Samverkansforum för Kvinnor i Sverige, Sams. Stockholm: SWL Archive.
SWL. (1997c). Protokoll årsmöte 22 November 1997, Immanuelskyrkan. Stockholm: SWL Archive.
SWL (2013a). Sveriges Kvinnolobbys stadgar. Stadgar antagna på årsmötet 2013-03-23. Retrieved November 25, 2013 from http://sverigeskvinnolobby.se/om-sveriges-kvinnolobby/stadgar.
SWL (2013b). Bli medlem. Retrieved October 16, 2013 from http://sverigeskvinnolobby.se/bli-medlem.
SWL, & Alfredsson, K. (2008). Från många parasoll till ett stort paraply: tio år med Sveriges kvinnolobby. Stockholm: Sveriges Kvinnolobby.
Zald, M. N., & McCarthy, J. D. (1979). Social movement industries: Competition and cooperation among movement organizations. CRSO Working Paper No. 201.
Zippel, K. (2004). Transnational Advocacy Networks and Policy Cycles in the European Union: The Case of Sexual Harassment. Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State and Society, 11(1), 57–85.
Acknowledgments
This article is written in relation to the project “Beyond the welfare state: Europeanization of Swedish civil society organizations” (EUROCIV), directed by Håkan Johansson and Anna Meeuwisse at Lund University and funded by the Swedish Research Council.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Karlberg, E., Jacobsson, K. A Meta-organizational Perspective on the Europeanization of Civil Society: The Case of the Swedish Women’s Lobby. Voluntas 26, 1438–1459 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-014-9463-0
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-014-9463-0