Abstract
These concerns reflect the current mood in many traditional voluntary associations in Norway. Leaders in a wide range of fields within the sector seem to agree that the communal spirit is waning. It is commonly claimed that careerists, individualists and egoists with little time to spare represent an increasing proportion of the population. As a study of changing value patterns in Norwegian society shows, these values are difficult to reconcile with commitment to voluntary organizations (Hellevik, 1996). Furthermore, since young people distinguish themselves as the most egocentric and materialist age group of all (op. cit.), one might expect slow erosion of voluntary organising following the exit of older, more idealistic generations from the population.
The collective spirit among Oslo’s inhabitants appears to have vanished. Housing associations, sports clubs and other voluntary organizations are struggling.—It has become much more trendy to sit around in cafés than to run around in the woods with a bunch of kids, says the Secretary General of the Norwegian Scouts’ Association (Aftenposten, August 24th, 2000).
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Wollebæk, D., Selle, P. (2003). Generations and Organizational Change. In: Dekker, P., Halman, L. (eds) The Values of Volunteering. Nonprofit and Civil Society Studies. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0145-9_10
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0145-9_10
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