Membership and Internal Democracy. Immigrant Organisations in the City of Oslo
GRITIM-UPF Working Paper Series Number 12, Summer 2012
https://repositori.upf.edu/bitstream/handle/10230/16509/GRITIM%2812%29.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
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Abstract
Immigrant organisations in the City of Oslo receive support from the government for
their daily operation. In order to receive such support, each organisation must be
membership-based and have internal democratic procedures. This paper raises the
question of how we can understand this combination of support for ethnic based
organisations and requirements of membership and internal democracy. It explores the
usefulness of two partly overlapping ways of understanding this policy and discusses
their interrelationship. Firstly, within the context of the crisis of multiculturalism, the
paper discusses whether this combination is based on the aim of strengthening the
organisations’ procedural commitment to liberal-democratic principles. Secondly, the
paper analyses whether requirements of membership and internal democracy can
mainly be understood within the framework of the Nordic model of voluntary
organisation. By comparing the policy at three empirical levels, the paper concludes
that this combination can mainly be understood within the framework of the traditional
historical Nordic model, but that there is an ambiguity in this policy related to minority
rights.
Membership and Internal Democracy. Immigrant Organisations in the City of Oslo