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- Ahl, Helene, 1958-, et al.
(author)
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A theory of conditional social equality in learning groups
- 2022
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper is inspired by an observation that challenges the theory of cumulative advantage/disadvantage (CAD). CAD says that not only are we born with unequal conditions, inequalities in any given characteristic, such as money, health, or status increase over time (Dannefer, 2003:327). People with educated parents tend to become well educated, and vice versa, and people with a higher level of education tend to engage in adult learning throughout their lives, while those with only compulsory school do not, which in turn effects their health, well-being and quality of life negatively. CAD is a somewhat deterministic theory, inviting ideas of what could be done to counteract such processes.Observations to this effect were made in studies of Men’s Sheds. Men’s sheds are community-based workshops offering men beyond paid work “somewhere to go, something to do and someone to talk to” (Golding 2015). Starting in Australia in the 1990s, it is a growing social movement with over 2000 Sheds worldwide (http://mensshed.org). The target group is largely retired working-class men; a group disadvantaged in terms of education, health, income and social status. However, Sheds attract men from all walks of life; also some well-educated and professional men.The Sheds have been found to benefit older men’s learning, health, well-being, and social integration. Traditional class divisions were erased, and participants were able to relinquish stereotypical “macho” male identities in favour of softer, caring identities (Cavanagh, Southcombe, & Bartram, 2014; Golding, Foley, & Brown, 2007; Golding, 2015; Haesler, 2015; Morgan, Hayes, Williamson, & Ford, 2007).The keys to their success are:(i) Sheds offer men practical, gender-stereotypical activities,(ii) they are self-organized, so service providers are kept at arm’s length, and(iii) women are not present (Ahl, Hedegaard, & Golding, 2017).A somewhat counter-intuitive conclusion is that when older men get to do gender stereotypical activities in gender segregated groups, they are able to relinquish class divisions and gender stereotypes. The research question is therefore: does learning in homogeneous groups challenge patterns of inequality, and if so, what patterns and how?Based on participant observations and interviews with “shedders” in three countries we found support for the afore-mentioned observations. Working class men possessed the necessary practical skills to became the teachers of other men – their competence was valued, which erased class divisions. When no women were around to fuss with their health concerns, or with tasks such as cooking, they started to do this for themselves and their mates. However, we also noted that heterosexuality was taken for granted and received conceptions of ethnicity/race were reinforced. Homosexuals and immigrants (or people of the native population) were not acknowledged – they became the new “others” of the group. A new-formed fellowship required an outgroup for its definition. Our conclusion is that learning in homogeneous groups allows the erasure of some inequalities, but reproduces others, and the former appears conditional on the latter. We use these observations to formulate a theory of conditional social equality (CSE) which may provide a partial antidote to cumulative disadvantage.
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- Ahl, Helene, 1958-, et al.
(author)
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Can governments support both women and entrepreneurship?
- 2014
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In: Diana International Research Conference 2014.
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Feminism in Sweden as well as in the other Scandinavian countries was largely formulated as state feminism. The women’s movement has cooperated with feminists in the state, resulting in societies that count as the most gender equal in the world. The Scandinavian countries are consistently ranked in the top position on international gender equality indices. The state has provided a large publicly financed welfare sector that both employs many women, and makes it possible to combine work and family through family friendly policies. The last decade has seen a political change influenced by neoliberal thought, in which politicians hand over welfare state responsibilities to the market, and instead encourage entrepreneurship, not least among women. The Swedish government has since 20 years back programs and policies to promote women’s entrepreneurship. The Swedish state has during the same period shrunk the public sector and privatized many operations in services and care, which traditionally employ many women. Instead, women are encouraged to start businesses in former public sectors. Empirical studies suggest however, that all of the increase of women’s entrepreneurship in these sectors is within low-paid, micro service businesses, typically child minding.Traditional state feminism has also changed character. Instead of public regulations, market solutions are advocated. In this paper we ask how to theorize this change from a feminist theory perspective; we ask what the implications for feminist action are, and we ask what consequences for women’s position in society are. We use research literature and policy texts as our empirical material and conduct a critical literature analysis. We conclude that the entrepreneurship discourse challenges, and possibly weakens state feminism and feminist action as we have known it in the Scandinavian countries, but may also offer new forms of feminist resistance, on market terms.
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- Ahl, Helene, 1958-, et al.
(author)
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Civil society engagement in refugee integration : subject to prior learning and institutional constraints
- 2023
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In: ICERI2023. - : IATED Academy. - 9788409559428
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In a seminal article in education and neo-institutionalist theory, Meyer and Rowan (1977) proposed that organisations are subject to institutional constraints. These constraints must be met for organizations to be seen as legitimate and thereby secure resources, but meeting them may get in the way of the efficient execution of their core activities. Organizations solve it by “loose coupling”, i.e. they purportedly meet the formal requirements, yet go about their business as they see fit. In this study we follow a number of state-sponsored projects carried out by Swedish civil society organizations aimed at integrating refugees after the massive refugee wave in 2015. We interviewed churches, voluntary associations, social enterprises, immigrant associations and municipal projects. With the exception of immigrant associations, the regular, core activities of the interviewed organizations were not related to integration. We hypothesized that the organizations might turn to loose coupling – do whatever they found best, and report to the government what the government wanted to hear, and in so doing secure long terms funds and institutionalize integration activities in their organizations.We found, however, that after a few years, most activities were discontinued. First, they were not only loosely coupled, but rather decoupled from the organization’s core activities. Projects were started by engaged individuals whose prior experience determined the content. Teachers arranged language training cafés, nurses initiated health projects, and those with industry experience arranged job interview training and internships. The documentation and reporting requirements from the government were difficult to meet, as they measured other things than what volunteers and participants valued as important. Continued funds could therefore not be secured. In lieu of funds, the activities were too decoupled form the organizations core activities to be integrated in their regular programs. So, instead of “efficient loose coupling” there was “inefficient decoupling”, and integration was not institutionalized.There were two exceptions: One was the immigrant associations who did not rely on external funds and where integration was already a core activity. The other exception was a social enterprise who upon not securing continued funding started a new, independent company. It was financed by selling cleaning services provided by immigrant women who also received language training and other support. In so doing, the formal framework of the organization became perfectly aligned to the integration activities.The lesson learned is that if the government wants to draw on the engagement of voluntary associations in the long term, programs and projects need to be aligned to the core activities of the associations, and evaluation criteria must be aligned to what volunteers and participants find meaningful. Theoretically, the study shows that there is a limit to loose coupling – the activities must be at least somewhat aligned to the formal organizational framework to be legitimate in the long term. We add the concept of “inefficient decoupling” to institutional theory. It explains when and why loose coupling does not work, and why inefficient decoupling, because of its inefficiency, may lead to the creation of a new formal organization which is able to house the desired activities.
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- Ahl, Helene, 1958-, et al.
(author)
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Conceptualizing entrepreneurship as creative space
- 2011
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In: Presented at 4th EuroMed Conference of the EuroMed Academy of Business, Elounda, Greece.
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper reviews and challenges received conceptualizations of entrepreneurship. We find entrepreneurship too narrowly defined, the business contexts in which it is customarily applied limiting, and the focus of input measured as forms of capital and output measured as economic gain restrictive. It black-boxes what entrepreneurs really do, reveals little about the process or the phenomenon of entrepreneurship, and its application in contexts other than business unnecessarily imposes business values that are not appropriate in such contexts. We further argue for the use of case studies as a fruitful way of unpacking the entrepreneurial process, and offer an example of such a case study. The analysis of the case results in a conceptualization of entrepreneurship as creative space, with three interrelated and co-dependent process movements: conservation, coordination and creation. We suggest entrepreneurship as creative space as a productive metaphor in studying what entrepreneurs really do, and also recommend a return to the original definition of entrepreneurship as entreprendre, that is, to undertake something.
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