Abstract
This study explores the communication processes of civil society collaboration, with particular attention to the ways in which sectoral differences are managed communicatively and how sectoral differences among members are implicated in the processes of collaboration. Findings from a 10-month qualitative investigation of a civil society collaboration of social service providers indicate that sector differences are discursive resources that people draw upon to make sense of uncertainty and frame arguments. Findings also demonstrate how sector differences are managed communicatively through practices of recognition, resistance, translation, and mediation. This study builds on previous scholarship that conceptualizes civil society collaboration as a series of communicative processes and discursive practices (versus economic or structural characteristics), as well as research that advocates a processual approach to the study of organizational collaboration.
The author thanks Daniel Lair for his input on a previous version of this manuscript, as well as editor Pamela Lannutti and the anonymous reviewers for their constructive feedback and insightful recommendations.
Notes
[1] I use the term civil society collaboration to capture a variety of interorganizational relationships described in the literature, such as cross-sector social partnerships (Nelson & Zadek, Citation2000; Seitanidi, Citation2008; Selsky & Parker, Citation2005; Waddock, Citation1989, Citation1991); multistakeholder collaboratives (Turcotte & Pasquero, Citation2001); cause-based partnerships (Parker & Selsky, Citation2004); social, collaborative, or multiparty alliances (Berger, Cunningham, & Drumwright, Citation2004; Stone, Citation2000; Zeng & Chen, Citation2003); multi- or cross-sector collaboration (Gray, Citation2000; Hardy et al., Citation2006); social service partnerships (Takahashi & Smutny, Citation2002); public-private partnerships (Linder, Citation1999; Lund-Thomsen, Citation2008); business city partnerships (Loza, Citation2004); cross-sector partnerships (Koschmann et al., Citation2012); and business or government nonprofit partnerships (Austin, Citation2000; Gazley & Brudney, Citation2007).
[2] It is worth noting that much of the collaboration literature uses the terms “communicative” and “discursive” interchangeably (e.g., Keyton et al., Citation2008; Lawrence, Phillips, & Hardy, Citation1999).
[3] All organizational and personal names in this study are pseudonyms in order to ensure confidentiality.
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