Europeanization of civil society organizations in times of crisis? Exploring the evolution grant-seeking strategies in the EU multi-level system

Abstract

This article analyses how humanitarian and development Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) have responded to the alteration of public funding opportunities over a long time period. Analysing a long time period allows for a better understanding of the potential impact of external shocks, such as the European sovereign and debt crisis. Data show that many CSOs severely affected by budget cuts at the national level in the context of the euro crisis have adopted a compensation strategy consisting on turning more frequently to international and European funds. Thus, in some countries, the economic crisis has contributed to the Europeanization of CSOs. This in-depth comparative qualitative analysis is based on the study of national humanitarian and development CSOs based in France and Spain.

Civil society organizations and participatory local governance in Pakistan: An exploratory study

“…CSO's contribution to activate the Citizen participation and their empowerment is quite minimal. Thus, civil society in Gujranwala, Pakistan cannot be considered either an autonomous body or a school of democratic education (also see, (Chandhoke, ; Edele, ; Oxhorn, ; Sanchez Salgado, ).…”

“…Other researcher focuses on the role of CSOs in terms of control and accountability (Ostrower & Stone, ; Zimmermann & Stevens, ) but others do not consider it necessary (Alexander, Brudney, Yang, Lu Knutsen, & Brower, ; Herz & Ebrahim, ). Civil society cannot be considered a space which is autonomous, nor a space for democracy education (Oxhorn, ; Sanchez Salgado, ). CSOs centered on social capital and stakeholders participation in a thoroughgoing way (Armstrong, Bello, Gilson, & Spini, ; Cheema & Popovski, ; Kumar et al., ; Nikku & Rafique, ).…”

European development NGOs and the diversion of aid: Contestation, fence‐sitting, or adaptation?

“…One way of looking at how salient a policy shift is for NGDOs is to examine the impact it would have on their access to funding, and there is a significant stream of literature examining the relationship between NGDO funding concerns and advocacy (Schmid, Bar, & Nirel, ; Mosely, ). NGDOs work in an increasingly competitive funding environment and need to ensure their organizational survival (Sanchez Salgado, ). Many NGDOs, especially smaller ones, are highly reliant on grants from their national governments and the EU institutions (Nunnenkamp & Öhler, ).…”

Europäische Solidarität in Zeiten der Krise: ein Vergleich der transnationalen Aktivitäten zivilgesellschaftlicher Organisationen in Deutschland und Griechenland

“…The process is related to organisational structures and forms of activism. This implies the establishment of supranational federations, networks or platforms of interest aggregation and representation, above and beyond the field of national and local organisations, the mobilisation and organisation of local and national members, a coordinated 'scale shift' of joint activities, and the insertion of these activities into the institutional arena of EU governance (Taylor and Mathers 2004;Kohler-Koch and Quittkat 2010;Sanchez Salgado 2017). On the other hand, the concept of 'horizontal Europeanisation' was used to grasp the transnationalisation of organisational fields, action repertoires and discourses.…”

“…Previous studies on civil society have provided ample evidence on the factors influencing vertical Europeanisation. Among others, they have argued that this depends on organisational resources (Coen 2004;Klüver 2010), and the opportunity structure provided by the EU institutions (Marks and McAdam 1996;Eder and Kousis 2001;Sanchez Salgado 2017). But these indications do not necessarily apply to the transnational dimension of civic activism.…”