The Challenge of Activist Coalition Governance: Accommodating Diversity to Create Institutions—An Approach Via the Inter-Relationships Between Action, Project and Instrument

Abstract

International audienceDieser Beitrag befasst sich mit der Leitung organisatorischer Mischformen, die derzeit in neuen sozialen Bewegungen entstehen und sich durch eine diverse institutionelle Logik und demokratische Entscheidungsfindungen auszeichnen. Unser theroretisches Rahmenwerk umfasst die Steuerungstheorie von Kooiman mit Erkenntnissen aus neuen Entwicklungen in der Institutionstheorie. Dieses Rahmenwerk ermöglicht uns die Analyse der Steuerung hinsichtlich ihrer Kompetenz, aus der Sicht von Wechselbeziehungen zwischen Handlung, Projekt und Instrument, verschiedenartige Institutionen miteinander zu verbinden, sowie die Untersuchung der aus diesen Wechselbeziehungen resultierenden institutionellen Arbeit. Im Rahmen der Studie einer französischen aktivistischen Koalition erforschen wir die Mikroverfahren, die die Diversität in einer Organisation ermöglichen, mit Hilfe derer die Schaffung solider Institutionen beabsichtigt wird. Unsere Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die drei Steuerungselemente - Handlung, Projekt und Instrument - den Zusammenhalt auf Diversität beruhender Organisationen sowie den Aufbau und den Zusammenschluss von Institutionen beeinflussen. Sind diese Elemente ausreichend flexibel und wandlungsfähig und einander gleichermaßen förderlich, so sind vielfältige Logiken möglich, die Koalition entwickelt sich weiter, und es kann wahre institutionelle Arbeit geleistet werden. Wird eines dieser Steuerungselemente - insbesondere die Instrumente - jedoch unabhängig und unflexibel, ist es schwieriger, Diversität zu erzielen und es führt dazu, dass eine Logik voraussichtlich alle anderen überwiegt, wodurch das Fortbestehen der Koalition gefährdet und die Entstehung einer neuen Institution verhindert wird.This paper addresses the governance of hybrid forms of organisation arising in new social movements, characterised by diverse institutional logics and democratic decision making. Our theoretical framework encompasses the governance theory of Kooiman with insights from new developments in institutional theory. This framework allows us to examine governance as the capacity to link together disparate institutions from the perspective of interactions between action, project and instrument, and to explore the institutional work that results from these interactions. By studying a French activist coalition, we explore the micro-processes that make it possible to accommodate diversity in an organisation intended to produce solid institutions. Our results show that the three elements of governance—action, project and instrument—have an impact on the cohesion of diversity-based organisations and on building and consolidating institutions. When these elements are flexible and versatile enough, and when they mutually nurture each other, a plurality of logics is possible, the coalition goes forward, and true institutional work can be accomplished. When one of these elements of governance—instruments in particular—becomes autonomous and rigid, diversity is more difficult to achieve and one logic is likely to prevail over the...

How platforms facilitate collaboration across organizational boundaries: fighting human trafficking in Sweden

“…There may well be multiple explanations for the absence of overt disagreements on this point. One key point commonly mentioned is that the current leadership is fully devoted to the Platform and to the principle of victims first, which supports previous research concerning how managers of activist coalitions navigate dangerous territory marked by diverse interests (Chemin and Vercher 2011). We add to this finding by suggesting that an atmosphere of distrust, in which conflicts of interest can arise, may be associated with the leadership being affiliated with a specific member organization.…”

“…However, the fact that CSOs display a great degree of heterogeneity regarding their types of organization and purpose can hamper building coalitions not only between public authorities and nonprofit organizations, but between CSOs as well (Willems et al 2017). In addition, although it can be difficult to create coalitions between social-activists movements, such coalitions once forged provide civil society activists with increased leverage (Chemin and Vercher 2011). In this respect, collaborative platforms may facilitate cross-organizational collaboration while also creating a basis for convergence and coalition-building that enhances the ability of CSOs to enter into public-private relations without being co-opted.…”

“…In contrast, strict agendas and clearly defined goals tend to make partnerships more effective, but they can make an organization closed and too narrowly focused, which would exclude alternative perspectives and new insights concerning the issues they address as well as the possibility of building a broader and more inclusive coalition of actors. In short, platforms require strategic management of their internal coordination and collaboration, along with careful decision making regarding their organizational form in relation to their agenda (Chemin and Vercher 2011;Steijn et al 2011).…”

Vers une appréhension plus circonscrite des défis inhérents à la participation des acteurs de la société civile à l’institutionnalisation de la responsabilité sociale de l’entreprise (RSE)

“…À contre-courant, Vercher (2009) s'intéresse par exemple à la production de cadres d'interprétation d' enjeux globaux par une coalition participant au mouvement transnational anti sweatshop pour établir son action dans un contexte institutionnel particulier. Chemin et Vercher (2011) exposent d'ailleurs plus avant les tensions expérimentées par ces acteurs pour lier l'action de la coalition à l'instrument de régulation qui incarne ses valeurs tout en maintenant une cohésion organisationnelle fragilisée par la présence de logiques institutionnelles hétérogènes. Si ces travaux rendent compte du travail d'articulation de l'action à la structure sociale, ils ne parviennent cependant pas à situer les acteurs au sein des rapports de force qui structurent le processus d'institutionnalisation de la RSE.…”

Democracy or autonomy? Indymedia and the contradictions of global social movement networks

“…More recently, scholars have probed further into this question. Building on the governance theory of Jan Kooiman (2003), Chemin and Vercher (2011) argue that French activist coalitions have been able to manage competing logics to build strong, diversity-based social movement organizations. Accordingly, Fominaya argues that the participatory governance structures of social-movement organizations provide the critical arena in which to construct collective identity.…”