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- Ahl, Helene, 1958-, et al.
(författare)
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Civil society engagement in refugee integration : subject to prior learning and institutional constraints
- 2023
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Ingår i: ICERI2023. - : IATED Academy. - 9788409559428
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)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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- Escobar, Karla, et al.
(författare)
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Civilsamhällets insatser i spåren av flyktingvågen 2015 : Hållbara över tid?
- 2023
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Studien undersöker vilka integrationsbefrämjande aktiviteter som civilsamhället, ofta med stöd av projektpengar från staten, bedrev i spåren av flyktingkrisen 2015. Vi undersöker också om aktiviteterna fick ett långsiktigt fäste i civilsamhällets organisationer eller inte. Vi har intervjuat representanter för kyrkor, biståndsorganisationer, sociala företag, ideella föreningar, invandrarföreningar och några kommunala projekt. Vi fann ett starkt samband mellan enskilda medlemmars tidigare erfarenheter av integrationsfrågor och vilka aktiviteter de valde att satsa på. Lärare startade språkcaféer, vårdpersonal informerade om sjukvården, behandlingspedagoger startade hälsoprojekt och så vidare. Vi fann också att de flesta av insatserna har avslutats. Projektformen, med krav både på nytänkande och förutbestämda resultatmått ledde till kortsiktighet. De yttre kraven var inte förenliga med de arbetssätt och de resultatmått som både civilsamhällets aktörer och flyktingarna föredrog så projekten förnyades inte. Organisationerna kunde inte långsiktigt härbärgera aktiviteterna. Undantagen är de fall där man efter att ha lyssnat till målgruppens behov bildat en ny, formell organisation som kunde härbärgera de önskade aktiviteterna. Detsamma gäller för invandrarföreningarna som inte var beroende av projektpengar och som redan hade ”integration” inbyggt i organisationens syfte och verksamhet. Studien ger lärdomar för myndigheter om vikten av att forma utlysningar så att syfte och resultatmått är förenliga med vad både civilsamhällets aktörer och projektdeltagare finner meningsfullt.
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| 6. |
- Nilsson, Marco, 1971-, et al.
(författare)
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Labour market integration of refugees in Sweden : Analysing the interactions of CSOs at different levels
- 2024
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Ingår i: Journal of ethnic and migration studies. - : Taylor & Francis. - 1369-183X .- 1469-9451. ; 50:6, s. 1317-1335
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- There has been a gap in knowledge regarding how civil society organisations (CSOs) interact at different levels when working to integrate refugees into the labour market—its causes and limitations. To contribute to filling the gap, this study employs both a rational choice perspective and sociological institutionalism to analyse how and why CSOs in Jönköping municipality in Sweden interacted with other relevant actors, both other CSOs (horizontally) and the public sector (vertically), to integrate refugees into the labour market after the refugee crisis in 2015 and what challenges they faced. It analyses different forms of interaction, that is, not only the relationship between the state and the civil society but also the one between different civil society organisations, which brings a new analytical dimension to the concept of coproduction to support refugees. By analysing the organisations’ interactions at different levels, the study identifies four themes: Striving to be flexible and service-minded organisations; between rational choice and institutionalisation of horizontal interactions; obstacles to horizontal interactions; and difficulty of measuring goal attainment.
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