Nye former for samfunnsengasjement og kollektiv handling

This chapter introduces the book’s main topics and analytical frame. With the development of societal meta-processes of change such as digitalization, individualization and globalization, the condition of collective action are under transformation. The main question, addressed by this book, is whether a new form of collective action – connective action – can be empirically identified when looking at the late developments in Norway. The need for formal organizations and selective incentives has been emphasized as a solution to the “collective action problem”. Digitalization, by enabling “organizing without organizations” is expected to enhance new forms of collective action that are more individualized and do not require formal organizations. Additionally, since digital networks cross territorial boundaries, collective action is expected to take a transnational character. With such a backdrop, the contributions assembled in this book, based on extensive empirical investigations, examine the extent to which digitalization transforms civic engagement, whether the boundary between volunteerism and political activism are becoming increasingly blurred, whether new organizing forms are emerging in the wake of digitalization, and whether it is possible to identify new forms of transnational collective action. Taken together, the contributions to this book do not support the emergence of a new form of collective action. On the contrary, in spite of the transformations affecting the forms of collective action and civic engagement, the empirical evidence emphasize the continued importance of the infrastructure constituted of civil society organizations for supporting collective action.