Ny situation - ny organisation : Gatutidningen Situation Sthlm 1995-2000
New organizations emerge in times of social change. Their survival depends on their ability to mobilize resources in an environment defined by an old order, and thus they must adapt to it. Since new organizations learn how to adapt by mimicking already succesful organizations, their structure tend to become increasingly similar to the structure of those organizations. The thesis tells the story of the emergence of Situation Sthlm, a Swedish street paper that was started in 1995. It was part of a global movement of street papers and represented an organizational type that so far had been unknown in modern Swedish society. Its uniqueness was based on the fact that it produced a paper that was sold on the street by homeless vendors, and on its combination of newspaper production and sales with social work. In the beginning Situation Sthlm tried to mimic the successful British street paper The Big Issue. But the ambition to cater to the needs of Stockholm's homeless, and the need to mobilize local resources eventually forced the organization to change in order to fit in with already established local organizations that was active in the field of homelessness. The thesis shows how the organization managed to change and adapt to the local resource structures while at the same time preserving its core activities as a street paper and gaining the neocorporative advantages of the field. The thesis attempts to synthesize a number of theoretical concepts into a dynamic theory of social change, including resource dependence, neocorporative organizational fields, institutional isomorphism, emulation, autonomous and relational resources as well as metaphorical forms of organizational adaption (octopoidenss, gluttony, monstrosity, credulity, hypocrisy). Data from three areas of Situation Sthlm's operations are used: The publication, the social work, and organizational development. It was collected between 1999-2002 through complementary use of interviews, observations and unobtrusive methods, and covers the period between 1995-2000.
Social Work, resource dependence, mimicry, homelessness, social change, resource mobilization, voluntary sector, NGO, adaptive forms, help-to-self-help, new organizations, neocorporatism, institutional isomorphism, emulation, street paper, Social problems and welfare, national insurance, Sociala problem, social välfärd, socialförsäkring
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