Can EU Civil Society Elites Burst the Brussels Bubble? Civil Society Leaders’ Career Trajectories
(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)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/7880d0f4-dfd2-4a96-bccb-9d3abcb53802
- author
- Lindellee, Jayeon LU and Scaramuzzino, Roberto LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2020-09-04
- 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}}, }