The aim of this thesis is to create knowledge on processes of change in the contemporary organizing of Swedish voluntary sport and the systems of meaning at work in these processes. The thesis proceeds from the assumption that the contemporary public sport policy climate is characterized by a pressure on organized sport to change in order for sport to better serve as an implementer of non-sport goals. In attempting to capture the possible ramifications of this pressure on the organizing of voluntary sport, the thesis work relies on the argument that processes of change are best captured in instances where new and established ideas are confronted with one another. Following this argument and drawing upon the concept of theorization, the first research question treated in the thesis concerns how legitimacy is established for a new practice (reported in Article 1). The second research question addressed is how, why, and with what consequences new ideas on organizing are implemented in sport organizations (reported in Article 2 & 3). In relation to this question, the concepts of translation and organizational identity are mobilized in the analysis. Empirically, these two questions are addressed using data from 29 interviews covering the emergence and organizing of organized spontaneous sport, so-called Drive in sport, in four Swedish municipalities. The analysis relating to these two questions shows that the same systems of meaning invoked to legitimize and specify Drive-in sport as a practice that has the potential to remedy problems being faced by both the Swedish society and the Swedish sports movement, also made Drive-in sport an unlikely developmental direction for the majority of implementing sport clubs. This process is understood with reference to a mismatch between the organizational identity of the clubs and the cultural material of the idea of Drive-in sport. This insight is brought into the formulation of the third research question treated in the thesis, which is concerned with sport clubs’ readiness, willingness, and ability to respond to policy changes (reported in Article 4). Building on data from short, qualitative interviews with representatives from 218 randomly selected sport clubs, 10 organizational identity categories are constructed. Between these categories, there is a variety of clubs’ core purposes, practices, and logics of action. The implications of this heterogeneity, in terms of sport clubs’ role as policy implementers, are discussed with reference to what clubs in each category might "imagine doing." The analysis provided in the thesis as a whole suggests that at stake in processes of change in the contemporary organizing of Swedish voluntary sport, is the very definition and meaning of sport.

This thesis aims to understand and explain the importance that prostitution forums have for the exercise of power and influence in the area of prostitution. It also seeks to clarify how these forums developed and were able to occur within a Swedish context. Sweden was the first country to legislate to criminalise only the buying, but not the sale, of sexual services. Social work provisions aims to get people out of prostitution. The thesis is based on an ethnographic study of the three largest Swedish prostitution forums during a two-year period. The empirical material consists of both quantitative participant and content analysis and field notes from observation of the interactions on the forums. The theoretical framework is based mainly on A Theory of Fields by Neil Fligstein and Doug McAdam. It focuses on the collective action on - and between - fields and how institutions are reproduced and changed.   The results show that most of the content was published by a smaller group of actors. The interaction can be divided into the following subjects: social shims; information; negotiations and rules; advice and support; viewpoints on the forum as well as discussion on prostitution and its regulation. Moreover, the study shows that the forums enabled both sex service providers and sex clients to meet collectively, pursue common interests and discuss which rules should prevail in the prostitution market. Providers also pursued self-organised harm reduction social measures. This form of self-help was also sanctioned by a municipal prostitution unit, which can be interpreted as if it acted in a contrary direction to the government’s prostitution policy. The actors in the forums perceived themselves to be stigmatised by society, where sex service providers to a greater extent than sex clients, described a form of stigma. In the forums they could, however, feel a sense of belonging. The actors perceived themselves to be monitored by the Swedish state and they collectively self-regulated the interaction. Sex service providers and sex clients also co-operated, on occasions, with the Swedish state in order to jointly combat child prostitution, human trafficking and organised crime.

The aim of this study is to investigate differences that exist in Estonia and Russia with regard to civil society, democracy and corruption and try to find out what can be possible causes to the vast differences in these two countries. Many political scientists claim that civil society plays a key role in democratic transitions. This paper takes its point of departure in 1991, when the Soviet Union collapsed and Estonia and Russia became independent. Since then Estonia has had a flourishing economy which attract many foreign investments, with Sweden as the greatest investor. The country has also managed well to adjust quickly from totalitarianism to democracy. This paper also addresses issues with corruption as it is a major problem in Russia and affects every day life in society. My results show that since Vladimir Putin came to power, Russia has got a higher degree of corruption and the evolution of democracy has gone backwards. I also found that there is a lack of social capital in the Russian society. In Estonia however, the results show that the country now has a well-functioning democracy. The legal environment for NGOs has steadily improved since Estonia became member of the EU. However, there still remain some deficit with regards to being a participating democracy at the grass-root level within the civil society. The theories used in this paper are Heidenheimer´s theory on corruption and Robert Putnam´s institutional theory on horizontal organization and social capital. The methods used are comparative case study and most similar systems design.

Syftet med denna studie är att kartlägga organisationskultur inom folkrörelseorganisationer samt att undersöka dess eventuella förändringar under påverkan av kulturpolitiken. Denna studie tillämpar Geert Hofstedes teorier som behandlar olika nivåer och dimensioner av organisationskultur. Studien behandlar värderingar, ritualer, hjältar och symboler inom varje organisation i fråga i ett sammanhang av organisatoriska praktiker som meningsbärande kulturella uttryck. Studien har genomförts med ett kvalitativt angreppssätt där semistrukturerade intervjuer utförts med hjälp av ett bekvämlighetsrvalsstrategi. Datainsamlingen har genomförts genom personliga intervjuer med fyra medarbetare på två folkrörelseorganisationer i Stockholm d.v.s. ABF och Riksteatern. De valda Organisationerna är verksamma inom olika verksamhetsområde och respondenterna har jobbat i varierande positioner och har fleråriga arbetserfarenheter. Intervjuerna spelades in efter beviljat tillstånd och säkerställandet av respondenternas anonymitet. En innehållsanalys genomfördes efter transkribering av inspelat material i form av citat och egna tolkningar. Studien behandlar också en del sekundärdata i form av historisk information om folkrörelsernas samhälleliga rötter och utvecklingsprocess. Studien visar en ständigt pågående omorganiseringsprocess inom folkrörelseorganisationer vilket orsakat signifikanta förändringar inom folkrörelsernas organisationskultur. Konflikten mellan folkrörelsernas ideella logiker och kulturpolitikens kvalitetslogik uppträder i organisationskulturen på olika sätt. ABF:s kärnvärderingar nämligen hjälpsamhet, jämlikhet och högt arbetsengagemang anses vara mindre aktuella idag. Hjälpsamhet och jämlikhet ligger också till grund för Riksteaterns demokratiseringsverksamhet och anses fortfarande vara aktuella i organisationen. När det gäller ABF har vi funnit att organisationen har utvecklat en professionell och icke-normativ organisationskultur med stränga kontrollmekanismer och stor fokus på arbetsutförande och processansvar i ett slut organisationssystem. Stränga kontrollmekanismer anses vara ett resultat av kulturpolitikens krav på ökad internkontroll och kvalitetssäkring. Studien visar att Riksteatern har utvecklat en komplex mångsidig organisationskultur som finns i två sammanhängande lager. En lokal, personalinriktad och normativ arbetskrets som omger sig med professionella, resultatinriktade och pragmatiska medarbetare. Detta leder till en normativ organisationskultur som erbjuder pragmatiska lösningar i syfte att kunna leva upp till kulturdepartementets krav på hög kvalitet, resurseffektivitet och antalet besökare. Det finns en tendens mot professionalism och pragmatism inom båda organisationerna. Detta kan bero på att båda organisationerna är ekonomiskt beroende av statliga bidrag och därför ska leva upp till kulturpolitikens kvalitetskrav. Detta ledde också till svagt normativt engagemang och ett slags samhällelig passivitet. Vi har också funnit att betoningen på kvantitativ utvärdering inte är en fungerande strategi för utvärdering av ideell kulturverksamhet. Istället har detta orsakat paradoxala uppdrag och identitetsförvirring inom organisationerna enligt våra respondenter. / The purpose of this paper is to provide a systematic description of the organizational culture in social movement organizations in Sweden and also to investigate its possible changes under the impact of cultural policy. The following study has been done using Geert Hofstede’s theories on different levels and dimensions of organizational culture. The study explores the organizational values, rituals, heroes and symbols in the context of organizational practices to be examined as meaningful cultural representations. This study has been done based on qualitative research method using semi-structured interviews and convenience sampling strategy for data collection. The data has been collected through personal interviews with four employees from two social movement organizations in Stockholm and from different areas of practice; The Swedish National Touring Theatre (Riksteatern) and The Workers’ Educational Association (ABF). The respondents have been working in variety of positions and have many years of experience. The interviews have been recorded as audio files after granting permission and ensuring the respondents’ anonymity to be preserved. A content analysis has been done following the transcription of the recorded material in the form of quotes and interpretations. Secondary data has been also used in the form of historical information regarding the origins of Swedish social movements and their development process. Our study shows that there is a constantly ongoing reorganization process in the Swedish social movements which has caused significant changes in the social movements’ organizational culture. The conflict between the logic of the social movements and the quality-oriented logic of the Swedish cultural policy emerges in the organizational culture in different ways. ABF’s core values such as benevolence, equality and high work engagement are considered to be less relevant in the current organizational culture. Benevolence and equality are also the core values of Riksteatern and are still considered to be relevant in the current organizational culture. When it comes to ABF, we have found that the organization has developed a professional and pragmatic organizational culture with strict control mechanisms and huge focus on task performance and processes in a closed-system organization. The strict control mechanisms are considered to be the result of the Swedish cultural policy’s requirements regarding internal control and quality assurance. The study shows that Riksteatern has developed a complex multidimensional organizational culture which exists in two interrelated layers. A local, employee-oriented and normative work circle surrounded by professional, result-oriented and pragmatic coworkers. This leads to a normative organizational culture which offers pragmatic solutions in order to be able to meet the ministry of culture’s requirements regarding high quality, resource efficiency and visitor numbers. There’s a tendency towards professionalism and pragmatism in both organizations. This might depend on the fact that both organizations are economically dependent to public funds and therefore are required to meet the cultural policy’s quality requirements. This leads also to a low normative engagement and societal passivity. We have also found that the emphasis on the quantitative evaluation ad revision is not an effective strategy to evaluate nonprofit cultural organization. Instead, this strategy has caused paradoxical missions and confusion regarding organizational identity, according to our respondents.

Human rights are presumed to be universal given the universal declaration on human rights by the United Nations in 1948. Half a century has passed, and private human rights such as group rights are discriminated against worldwide. This thesis studies the presumed tension between universal human rights and private human rights, and how the specific rights are discriminated against. External monitoring is part of duties assigned to civil society organisations, and organisations monitor this issue and uses various methods to create circumstances in which private rights are respected. This thesis studies the European context through the European Court of Justice and the European Convention on Human Rights, and how civil society organisations in Europe use strategic litigation for Roma human rights. The purpose of this thesis is to establish how the European Court of Justice balances the tension between universal human rights and private human rights when civil society invokes discrimination against human rights. A sub-purpose is to identify whether there is a long-term consequence of strategic litigation for Roma human rights in Europe. The thesis has dealt with two ideas of human rights: universalism and discrimination. The chosen method for the study has been descriptive analysis of ideas to show the existence of ideas in texts, and thus be able to ascertain a shift in expression. The material is obtained by the civil society organisation European Roma Rights Centre, which are rulings from the European Court of Justice. The result of the study is that the European Court of Justice has previously considered that human rights should be universal and held that discrimination is difficult to prove. In recent cases however, the European Court of Justice has ruled that discrimination is constitutional for the Roma. Lastly, it is stated that strategic litigation can be viewed as effective in reducing the tension between universal human rights and private human rights in Europe.

The main purpose of this study was to investigate how professionals working within the Swedish Church and the City Mission in a municipality in southern Sweden describe their work with individuals in financial crisis, as well as whether and, if so, how they perceive themselves as complementing or replacing the responsibilities of the municipal welfare agency. During the ongoing inflation, prices for essentials such as food, rent, and electricity have increased, placing additional strain on the welfare state and the efforts of social workers to meet the needs of individuals in economic hardship. There is a lack of consensus in the research regarding the role that the Swedish Church and the City Mission should play in social work and the extent to which they provide aid. In times of inflation, the question becomes particularly relevant as civil society actors become more relevant when societal resources are insufficient. To address our research questions, we conducted a qualitative interview study involving eight participants from the Swedish Church and the City Mission. We employed neo-institutional theory to interpret our empirical data. Our study revealed that the Swedish Church and the City Mission in a municipality in southern Sweden emphasize their multifaceted function and flexible approach, enabling them to address various forms of needs among individuals experiencing financial crisis. They described themselves as being able to complement certain aspects of the municipal welfare agency's responsibilities, but their resources were too limited to fully replace these functions. Our study demonstrated that they could provide limited amounts of food, financial resources, and create a sense of community and belonging inside their organization.