In the new book ‘Elites in Civil Society: A Comparative Perspective’, researchers from Lund University and the University of Gothenburg find a growing connection between civil society leaders and power elites. Civil society leaders are those leading charitable organisations representing citizens’ interests and work to influence social or political change. Power elites include all those with access to, and influence over, political and economic power and networks. Malin Arvidson, Roberto Scaramuzzino, Niklas Altermark and Jayeon Lee present their findings based on a comparative analysis between Sweden, Italy, the UK and Poland.
While civil society and activism are based on the ideals of inclusion and public participation, the researchers found an increasing professionalisation of civil society organisations. This can strengthen the organisation, but risks that leaders of these organisations become increasingly intertwined with elites. Thus, these connections create a distance from the original idealist movements and activism, Malin Arvidson explains.
The UK delivers the widest gap between decision makers of civil society and its initial normative activism. Many of these leaders have attended the same elite universities and colleges, including Eton, Oxford, and Cambridge, as political and business elites. Thus, in the UK, charity and activism seem to be well intertwined with the political and business sectors. While giving the organisations leverage to influence those sectors, it risks at the same time that the charity sector becomes closer to social elites, instead of the people their organisation caters to.
In contrast, Poland was the country with the least connections between elites and decision makers. According to the research by Arvidson, Scaramuzzino, Altermark and Lee, Poland has only recently begun to develop an independent civil society with its own organisations after the fall of communism. As a result, these organisations often remain small, with only limited connections to governmental institutions, or the business sector. Thus, the study finds that the risk of civil society being socially entangled with elites remains limited.
Sweden and Italy show similarities in the organisational structure of charity organisations. The levels of connections between the civil society sector and power elites in both countries lie somewhere between the UK and Poland: the sector is integrated into elite circles, like in the UK, but remains somewhat connected to their initial activism and members, like in Poland. Differences between Sweden and Italy can instead be found in the purpose, as Sweden’s civil society focuses more on processes of democracy such as shaping public opinion and member representation. Italy’s civil society focuses more on welfare services and social charity, the same study shows.
According to Arvidson, Scaramuzzio, Altermark and Lees research, Lund University does not particularly stand out among Swedish universities where civil society leaders study at. Specifically, Marie Cederschiöld Högskola, has offered specialized programmes focused on civil society, and the nonprofit sector, making it a distinct educational pathway. Generally, it stands out that civil society leaders in Sweden have considerably higher levels of education than the general population, Malin Arvidson highlights via an email to Lundagård.
What does that research imply for Swedish students interested in pursuing a career in the civil society sector? Arvidson stresses the involvement in the sector, in any way possible, and says that research in Sweden points to civil society involvement as important .
– A track record of engagement – perhaps in the same organisation, (…) – as a common denominator among many in the civil society elite in Sweden’, concludes Malin Arvidson in an email to Lundagård.
