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Can EU Civil Society Elites Burst the Brussels Bubble? Civil Society Leaders’ Career Trajectories

Lindellee, Jayeon LU and Scaramuzzino, Roberto LU (2020) In Politics and Governance 8(3). p.86-96
Abstract
The Brussels-based civil society organizations (CSOs) have been conceived by the EU to act as a bridge between the bureaucratic elites and the citizens of Europe. The institutionalized presence of the major EU-based CSOs has, however, called their legitimacy into question, as exemplified by notions such as ‘revolving doors’ implying homogeneous social, educational, and professional backgrounds shared by both EU officials and CSO leaders. This article therefore asks the following questions: To what extent do the leaders of EU-based CSOs merely reproduce the types of capital that mirror those of the political elites in the so-called ‘Brussels bubble’? To what extent do the CSO leaders bring in other sets of capital and forms of recognition... (More)
The Brussels-based civil society organizations (CSOs) have been conceived by the EU to act as a bridge between the bureaucratic elites and the citizens of Europe. The institutionalized presence of the major EU-based CSOs has, however, called their legitimacy into question, as exemplified by notions such as ‘revolving doors’ implying homogeneous social, educational, and professional backgrounds shared by both EU officials and CSO leaders. This article therefore asks the following questions: To what extent do the leaders of EU-based CSOs merely reproduce the types of capital that mirror those of the political elites in the so-called ‘Brussels bubble’? To what extent do the CSO leaders bring in other sets of capital and forms of recognition that are independent of the Brussels game? How can we explain differences in the salience of EU capital found across policy areas, types of leadership positions, and types of organizations? Empirically, this article qualitatively analyzes the career trajectories of 17 leaders of EU-based peak CSOs that are active in social and environmental policy areas. Despite the highly integrated and institutionalized characteristics shared by all organizations, we find diversity in the composition of the leaders in terms of the extent to which their career trajectories are embedded in the EU arena. (Less)
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author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Politics and Governance
volume
8
issue
3
pages
86 - 96
publisher
Cogitatio Press
external identifiers
  • scopus:85095683001
ISSN
2183-2463
DOI
10.17645/pag.v8i3.2995
project
Civil society elites? Comparing elite composition, reproduction, integration and contestation in European civil societies
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
7880d0f4-dfd2-4a96-bccb-9d3abcb53802
date added to LUP
2020-08-21 16:12:47
date last changed
2022-04-19 00:18:24
@article{7880d0f4-dfd2-4a96-bccb-9d3abcb53802,
  abstract     = {{The Brussels-based civil society organizations (CSOs) have been conceived by the EU to act as a bridge between the bureaucratic elites and the citizens of Europe. The institutionalized presence of the major EU-based CSOs has, however, called their legitimacy into question, as exemplified by notions such as ‘revolving doors’ implying homogeneous social, educational, and professional backgrounds shared by both EU officials and CSO leaders. This article therefore asks the following questions: To what extent do the leaders of EU-based CSOs merely reproduce the types of capital that mirror those of the political elites in the so-called ‘Brussels bubble’? To what extent do the CSO leaders bring in other sets of capital and forms of recognition that are independent of the Brussels game? How can we explain differences in the salience of EU capital found across policy areas, types of leadership positions, and types of organizations? Empirically, this article qualitatively analyzes the career trajectories of 17 leaders of EU-based peak CSOs that are active in social and environmental policy areas. Despite the highly integrated and institutionalized characteristics shared by all organizations, we find diversity in the composition of the leaders in terms of the extent to which their career trajectories are embedded in the EU arena.}},
  author       = {{Lindellee, Jayeon and Scaramuzzino, Roberto}},
  issn         = {{2183-2463}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{09}},
  number       = {{3}},
  pages        = {{86--96}},
  publisher    = {{Cogitatio Press}},
  series       = {{Politics and Governance}},
  title        = {{Can EU Civil Society Elites Burst the Brussels Bubble? Civil Society Leaders’ Career Trajectories}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/83415974/PaG_8_3_Can_EU_Civil_Society_Elites_Burst_the_Brussels_Bubble_Civil_Society_Leaders_Career_Trajectories.pdf}},
  doi          = {{10.17645/pag.v8i3.2995}},
  volume       = {{8}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}