The effects of social movements’ cooperation with governmental and non-governmental organizations: a cross-country comparative perspective

One of the characteristics of the latest wave of progressive social movements that have emerged globally – from anti-austerity and Occupy movements to movements protesting violence against women, to struggles for environmental justice, etc. – is the heightened mistrust: in the system of representative democracy, in political parties, but also other formal and established social actors, like unions and non-governmental organizations. Cooperation with governmental and non-governmental organizations (GOs and NGOs) or refusal to cooperate with them has become an issue of heated debate within many progressive social movements today. In this paper we will approach the subject through the findings obtained from three countries with different political cultures and social and political trust levels: Denmark, Poland and Serbia. The sample consists of six social movements: one environmental movement from each country, the refugee solidarity movement from Denmark, All-Polish Women Strike from Poland, and an anti-eviction movement from Serbia. We will analyse the social movements’ attitudes toward, and the perceived effects of their cooperation with GOs and NGOs, particularly concerning trust relations within the movements and beyond. In the analysis we will focus on the role of two factors: social movements’ concrete short and long-term goals and the role of political, social, and cultural contexts.