How to Establish a Study Association: Isomorphic Pressures on New CSOs Entering a Neo-Corporative Adult Education Field in Sweden

This article aims to increase understanding of how the institutional model of a (neo) corporative state meets new forms in
a changing civil society. This objective is accomplished by analyzing two case studies of Swedish organizations entering into
the field of government-subsidized popular education: one youth organization and one Muslim organization. The institutionalist
concepts isomorphism, isopraxism, isonymism, packaging and translation are used to analyze these. Empirically the article
is based on qualitative analysis of interviews, observations and written documents. It is concluded that the translation of
popular education as an organizational concept in these cases is characterized by coercive and mimetic isomorphism, isopraxism
and isonymism to an extent that hinders development in the popular education field. There are also examples of emerging packaging
changing the relationship between state and civil society. That issue, however, requires further qualitative research, as
does the influence of corporatism on civil society organization in general.