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Shaping Civil Society Leaders: Horizontal and Vertical Boundary Work in Swedish Leadership Training Programmes

Johansson, Håkan LU ; Altermark, Niklas LU and Stattin, Simon LU (2023) In Voluntas 34(5). p.1025-1035
Abstract
Civil society leadership training programmes are a new phenomenon, and they are often overlooked by civil society scholarship despite being linked to the professionalisation of the sector. In this article, we examine 14 Swedish leadership programmes in order to identify leadership ideals in the sector. Drawing on the notion of ‘symbolic boundaries’, we argue that leadership programmes produce horizontal boundaries in relation to other societal sectors and vertical boundaries between leaders of the sector and other members. Together, these symbolic boundaries form a leadership ideal that detaches leaders from their organisation and internal democratic processes, instead depicting leadership as a question of personal characteristics and... (More)
Civil society leadership training programmes are a new phenomenon, and they are often overlooked by civil society scholarship despite being linked to the professionalisation of the sector. In this article, we examine 14 Swedish leadership programmes in order to identify leadership ideals in the sector. Drawing on the notion of ‘symbolic boundaries’, we argue that leadership programmes produce horizontal boundaries in relation to other societal sectors and vertical boundaries between leaders of the sector and other members. Together, these symbolic boundaries form a leadership ideal that detaches leaders from their organisation and internal democratic processes, instead depicting leadership as a question of personal characteristics and values. Leaders in the sector need to be authentic and to anchor their leadership in the personal values they hold. Theoretically, our analytical model may prove useful in the study of other empirical phenomena in civil society. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Elites, Capital, Bourdieu, Boundary work, Civil Society, Leadership, Training
in
Voluntas
volume
34
issue
5
pages
1025 - 1035
publisher
Springer
external identifiers
  • scopus:85137466957
ISSN
0957-8765
DOI
10.1007/s11266-022-00519-x
project
Civil society elites? Comparing elite composition, reproduction, integration and contestation in European civil societies
Civil society elites? The composition, reproduction and integration of elite groups in Swedish civil society
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
1a5b6855-d605-43f0-b51d-b2f2f2f8636c
date added to LUP
2022-10-07 09:51:39
date last changed
2024-01-09 15:47:57
@article{1a5b6855-d605-43f0-b51d-b2f2f2f8636c,
  abstract     = {{Civil society leadership training programmes are a new phenomenon, and they are often overlooked by civil society scholarship despite being linked to the professionalisation of the sector. In this article, we examine 14 Swedish leadership programmes in order to identify leadership ideals in the sector. Drawing on the notion of ‘symbolic boundaries’, we argue that leadership programmes produce horizontal boundaries in relation to other societal sectors and vertical boundaries between leaders of the sector and other members. Together, these symbolic boundaries form a leadership ideal that detaches leaders from their organisation and internal democratic processes, instead depicting leadership as a question of personal characteristics and values. Leaders in the sector need to be authentic and to anchor their leadership in the personal values they hold. Theoretically, our analytical model may prove useful in the study of other empirical phenomena in civil society.}},
  author       = {{Johansson, Håkan and Altermark, Niklas and Stattin, Simon}},
  issn         = {{0957-8765}},
  keywords     = {{Elites; Capital; Bourdieu; Boundary work; Civil Society; Leadership; Training}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{5}},
  pages        = {{1025--1035}},
  publisher    = {{Springer}},
  series       = {{Voluntas}},
  title        = {{Shaping Civil Society Leaders: Horizontal and Vertical Boundary Work in Swedish Leadership Training Programmes}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11266-022-00519-x}},
  doi          = {{10.1007/s11266-022-00519-x}},
  volume       = {{34}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}