Coordinator(s): Professor Lars Skov Henriksen, (Aalborg University, Denmark, Research), Professor Kari Steen-Johnsen (Institute for Social Research, Oslo, Norway) and Professor Jón Gunnar Bernburg (University of Iceland, Iceland).
In recent years, civil society and its relations to the topics of civic engagement, activism and social movements, social capital, trust, co-creation, the public sphere, and foundations have received considerable attention from scholars as well as decision makers and the broader public. In the Nordic countries we have seen renewed interest in the studies of historical and current relations between state and civil society, the role of associations and voluntary organizations in sustaining public welfare and culture, new forms of activism and new forms of organizing citizens initiatives and movements, the effect of these activities on individual and collective life and much more. The role of civil society in tackling new challenges related to migration, globalization, climate change, inequality, and populism is highly debated and contested.
We invite papers that address any of these questions, and in particular papers that bridge perspectives from social movement theory and civil society, as well as activism and voluntarism. Theoretical as well as empirical work is welcome, and we encourage colleagues to submit papers based on different types of designs and different data sources.