Frivilligorganisationer i en organisatorisk glesbygd En studie av socialt inriktade frivilligorganisationers uppkomst och etablering i en kommunal kontext

Sammanfattning: AbstractThe landscape of socially oriented NGOs – a study of how they are created and established ina local Swedish context.This thesis is an inquiry into local, socially oriented non-governmental organizations (NGOs)in Swedish municipalities. Previous research has indicated that changes in the monitoring andsteering of financial support during the 1990s altered the conditions for and practices ofNGOs. The inquiry – based on archival material and interviews with organizationrepresentatives from the twelve NGOs receiving financial support from the social welfareboard in Växjö municipality – showed instead that the organizations were unaffected by thechanges, and that the set of recipient organizations had been stable over time. A comparisonwith four other communities reveals that the same pattern is repeated in other municipalitiesof similar size. The purpose of the thesis is to develop a theoretical framework to account forstability in sets of recipient organizations. It is argued that set stability is explained byaffiliations with well-known national organizations, in conjunction with the boundary-work ofthe local organizations.