English
Norway – towards a volatile civil society?
Nordic Civil Society at a Cross-Roads. Transforming the Popular Movement Tradition :55-71
Baden Baden (2011)
Emneord
In this chapter we discuss the development of Norwegian civil society and ask whether current processes of commercialization, individualization and digitalization will render it more volatile.
The combination of two trends - a decline in voluntary work and a rise in giving - leads to identifying a tum towards a more Anglo-Saxon philanthropic model of civil society. While civil society has traditionally been based on broad mobilization and strong membership relations, there are now indications that under the pressure of individualizing and commercializing tendencies, the importance of membership is weakened and that participation is becoming more individualized and more unequally distributed.
These processes may contribute to loosening the relationships between members and organizations, entailing a weakening of participatory culture and of democratic governance within the voluntary sector.
Even if digitalization does not seem to affect individual's social capital, there is no evidence that digitalization gives more opportunities to members in terms of power and influence within voluntary organizations. Compared to Sweden, changes affecting the Norwegian civil society seem be driven to a greater extent by societal trends affecting individual behaviors, such as consumerism and individualization, rather than organizational strategies.