Abstract
This essay is sprung from a larger research project, aiming at mapping the Swedish nonprofit sector in comparison to a number of other countries. During this work, we have had to tackle the fact that the "sector" was" in fact, not understood as one sector but consisted of several different organizational groups, or types unified by a basic rationality or certain organizational principles and attributes, rather than specific fields of activity. One of the largest and most influential groups or types found in Sweden are the traditional popular movements (folkrörelserna) and their organizations, e.g., the labor, temperance, and free church movements. All of these organizations gathered strength around the turn of the century and have been influential actors in Swedish society for the major part of the 20th century. Now, at the end of the century, these organizations are often claimed - by themselves as well as by society at large - to be experiencing a crisis. Some of the symptoms are decreasing membership figures, less political influence, and active members turning passive. A number of explanations have been put forth but too often the organizations - and other observers - have tried to analyze only one or two of these explanations, or - in a "rational" step-by-step manner - tried to address and solve the issues or problems experienced sequentially. In my view, this approach is often insuffiecient to handle such complex and interrelated relations and processes. In this essay, I will try to provide a more comprehensive picture of the situation.