Folkrörelserna i välfärdssamhället

Sammanfattning: Swedish voluntary associations, folkrörelser have been honoredwith a gilt-edged history, a chronicle in need of criticalnuance. Those mass movements which at the time of thebreakthrough of democracy and the welfare society were bearers ofcivic ideals and visions have changed in character and metcompetition from other organizations. Over the years theorganizational sphere as well as its enviroment have evolved intosomething of a completely different nature.The purpose of this study is to reconstruct the communityfunctions of voluntary associations; and to identify theconditions under which voluntary associations are able to promotedifferent political cultures.The analyses prove that voluntary associations in the welfaresociety occupy community functions located between the extremesof a service and a pressure function. Extrapolated to themacro-level they are on the way to a privatist and pluralistsociety, respectively. Few, if any, organizations maintain forcesthat point in the direction of a civil or state society.Organizations push society onto a path leading towards pluralismand individualism, but what does this imply for the developmentof the whole social formation? A variety of forces maycounterbalance the aspirations of voluntary associations. In thewelfare society key emphasis must be placed on what happens whenorganizations meet the challenge imposed by the volumnious growthof the public sector.The capacity of organizations to change the enviroment isdependent on the scale and thoroughness of public intervention:the more extensive government interventionism, the harder it isfor organizations to leave their imprint on the making of apolitical culture. If, however, the integration of the economic,social, and political arenas was to disintegrate or the arenaswere to become softer in their contours, organization potentialswould grow stronger. Voluntary associations are more reactivethan active in political conditions characterized by integratedarenas and government interventionism; reducing publicintervention is a prerequisite for organizations to be able toreshape the political culture.