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A Meta-organizational Perspective on the Europeanization of Civil Society: The Case of the Swedish Women’s Lobby

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2026

Eva Karlberg  and
Kerstin Jacobsson
Eva Karlberg*
Affiliation:
School of Social Sciences, Södertörn University, 141 89 Huddinge, Sweden
Kerstin Jacobsson*
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology and Work Science, University of Gothenburg, Box 720, 405 30 Gothenburg, Sweden
*
e-mail: eva.karlberg@yahoo.se
e-mail: kerstin.jacobsson@gu.se
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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

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

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

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

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。

要約

要約

欧州連合の統合と EUの拡大による社会政策の結果として、今日多くの市民の関心はEU レベルで組織されている。女性運動の場合でいえば、傘組織である欧州女性ロビー (EWL) はブリュッセルで女性運動を展開している。EWLは連合内の代表的な傘組織であり、連合内レベルでの女性運動に影響を及ぼす構造がある。本論では、メタ組織論 (Ahrne and Brunsson 2008) の視点を通して、市民社会の欧化の研究を提案する。欧化は市民社会のメタ組織構造を課しているプロセスとして理解されている。スウェーデンの女性のロビーのケーススタディを通して、本論ではスウェーデンの女性活動において、メタ組織構造が欧化によってもたらされることを分析する。

ملخص

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.

Keywords

Civil societyEuropeanizationInter-organizational relationsMeta-organizationsSwedish Women’s Lobby

Information

Type
Original Paper
Information
Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations , Volume 26 , Issue 4 , August 2015 , pp. 1438 - 1459
Copyright
Copyright © International Society for Third-Sector Research and The Johns Hopkins University 2014

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