Themes, Civil Society Elites

The program is guided by the following research questions:

• What are the qualities, values and networks associated with civil society elites?
• How and to what extent are civil society elites reproduced?
• To what extent and how do elite groups in civil society interact, or even integrate, with other elite groups?
• By whom, on what grounds and with what effects are civil society elites challenged and power contested?
• What mechanisms and processes lead to elite consolidation or elite contestations across countries and between governance levels?
• What are the consequences of elites for the roles that civil society is expected to play?

These questions are linked to four principal themes of investigation that structure the program:

The challengers to elites

To what extent, how and on what grounds are civil society elites challenged by other griups, such as grassroots, but also other leaders in civil society aiming for status positions.

• Analysis of the extent to which civil society elites are challenged for being illegitimate representatives or non-authentic civil society actors.
• Analysis of where challengers potentially seek to replace current elite groups and/or challenge them on ideological grounds.

Scientific coordinators: Elżbieta Korolczuk, Anna Meeuwisse and Sara Kalm.

The composition of civil society elites

Mapping the composition of elites in terms of their social backgrounds, representation and size is a task common to many elite studies. It’s about identifying who the elites are and what characterizes them.

Accordingly this thematic study is about mapping civil society elites in five different contexts: i.e. England, Italy, Poland, Sweden and Brussels (EU-level), and across ten policy fields: i.e. Age, Charity, Culture, Disability, Environment, Gender equality, Human Rights and Democracy, Migration and ethnic groups, Religion, Sports and leisure. Addressing the composition of civil society elites requires an operationalization of the elite concept to be applied to the particular sphere of civil society, as well as drawing a boundary between the elite and non-elite which is a notoriously difficult task.

Departing from the so-called “positional method” in elite research, we assume that resources and influence are largely tied to positions of leadership in organisations of national relevance and that elites are those who can exert influence through their strategic positions in powerful organisations. We therefore choose as our point of departure in this study to focus on formal leaders of civil society organisations of national relevance. Based on previous research on civil society organisations, we have developed a "elite-score" by combining a number of indicators measuring a given civil society organisation's internal/external dimensions of resources and recognition. This allows us identifying the most well-established and resourceful civil socity organisations in each national context and from there we identify the leaders of the organisations. The following is our ongoing and planned empirical studies in exploring the composition of civil society elites.

Survey study: We conduct a survey study targeting the directors and presidents of the civil society organisations identified in each context. The survey questions are concerned with the civil society leaders' personal and professional backgrounds, social networks, career trajectories, experiences of influence and challenge as civil society leaders, attitudes and values concerning key social and political issues, etc. Some questions will directly tap into the reputational method of identifying powerful individuals in a given field. The survey answers will be analysed using multiple correspondence analysis, social network analysis and other methods of statistical inference. The cross-national comparison of the survey answers will allow analyses of relations between the national political structure and the structure of civil society from the leaders' perspective.

Prosopographical study: We collect prosopographical data on individual leaders holding important commanding positions in the civil society organisations. The data include a given individual's previous and current engagements not only in the civil society sphere but also in other sectors. The data will be analysed using methods such as qualitative comparative analysis and multiple correspondence analysis, with an aim to understand the path(s) to becoming civil society elites and to explore how a given civil society field (be it at a national/European levels or within a specific policy field) is structured in terms of distribution of common and/or varying characteristics of individual leaders.

Scientific coordinators: Christofer Edling and Roberto Scaramuzzino.

Elite interaction and integration

Notions like elite interaction, interlock and integration have a central place in elite research.

Studies investigate social network features and their interlocking effects of for instance corporate boardroom. Others investigate mobility between sectors (and workplaces), using terms like ‘revolving doors’ or ‘pantouflage’ to capture career pathways and mobility between sectors. This has been particularly evident in analyses of political elites. Of key concern here is under what conditions such mobility is possible and/or prohibited, which factors seem to enhance and/or restrict such sector-mobility and to what extent mobility enhances and/or restricts pathways to elite positions?

This thematic study takes stock of existing research into elite integration by investigating the potential interaction between and integration of civil society elites and other elite groups. There is limited research on to what extent, how and with what consequences presidents, secretary generals and directors in civil society take up positions in politics or business and what such mobility might imply for their legitimacy, authenticity and capacity to represent civil society (or vice versa). Our analysis is directed to the boundary crossers/movers and what capital and field positions are required and gained through doing so.

The concepts of interaction and integration as used in elite studies are, we argue, well suited to explore the characteristics and experiences of civil society elites. Hence, we propose the following two research questions that will guide this thematic study:

1. To what extent, how, and with what consequences do civil society leaders interact with other elite groups?
2. To what extent, how, and with what consequences are elite groups in civil society integrated with other elite groups?

At present we plan to study this through extensive sets of biographical life-history interviews with key civil society leaders in the five contexts of the research program. This allows us to address what motivations and values that underlie elite-formation, if there is a particular charismatic or motivational leadership for civil society elite groups and what characterize those who move between and across sector differences. We will also conduct studies of what we refer to as exclusive arenas for elite interaction and integration in each respective context, for instance linked to prestigious networks, arenas and events of particular importance for actors to gains status and recognition.

Scientific coordinators: Malin Arvidson and Anders Uhlin.

The reproduction of civil society elites

Our interest into ‘civil society elite’ ties into debates on elite reproduction and circulation that lies at the center of elite research.

Scholars have long studied the role of social institutions and social networks constitute a ‘glue’ that binds elites together. There is ample research on how class structures and education systems constitute key factors in elite reproduction. Using elite education institutions like Oxbridge, scholars investigate the norms, attitudes and preferences of elites and as means of social closure for elite groups in society. The notion of elite reproduction is linked to general sociological debates on lifestyles, identity and social status as bases for social domination in society.

We take stock of these debates and study the vertical mobility of actors in the field of civil society, focusing on why some acquire elite positions and elite status while others do not. Our overall aim is to investigate the rules, practices, and the capital composition that allows for or restrict mobility into positions that holds significant resources and influence. We will conduct studies of the recruitment and appointment of presidents and directors into leadership positions in large and powerful civil society organisations. We will conduct studies into training and leadership programs of young activists and civil society leaders as they are being trained and prepared ‘for power’. We will also study of civil society prizes across Europe to capture how status and recognition is produced in the field of civil society. These three “routes” of upward mobility (an ‘organizational route’, an ‘educational route’ and ‘a route of consecration’) will allows us to capture both institutionalized as well as less institutionalized avenues of upward mobility. Aside from elite and field theory, this thematic study draws on theories on social closure, symbolic boundaries and symbolic power and domination.

Scientific coordinators: Niklas Altermark and Håkan Johansson.