Civil society organizations and municipalities in changing times: Potentials and pitfalls in the collaborative turn

In this chapter, the authors explore and identify the rhetoric and practices in the ‘collaborative turn’ concerning cross-sector collaboration and apply a model of the collaborative turn continuum that captures four dynamic dimensions. The analysis is based on qualitative interviews and focus groups with a differentiated group of civil society organisations (CSOs) in the social field and different actors from Danish municipalities. The authors aim to answer the following questions: How do municipal actors and CSOs, respectively, position themselves rhetorically and practically in terms of ‘the collaborative turn’? What potentials and pitfalls emerge? Firstly, they explore how municipal actors understand and position themselves in the collaborative turn. Secondly, they analyse how a differentiated number of CSOs find themselves situated in these changing arenas.