The Field of EU Civil Society: Autonomy, Symbolic Order and Structure of Elite Positions

Since the turn of the Millennium, there has been extensive debates on the European Union (EU) and civil society. EU institutions have largely portrayed and considered associations and organizations of civil society as way to counterbalance the EU’s democratic deficit and/or as a means to foster effective implementation of policies, at EU and national levels. Much research has accordingly analysed how EU discourses, policies and governance arrangements shape civil society and civil society actors operating in Brussels. However, we find much less scholarly attention into relations internal to civil society itself and how civil society actors themselves compete over positions, resources and the rules of the game in relation to other civil society actors active at EU level. For this purpose, this paper explores Bourdieu’s field theory and seeks to analyse the autonomy of the field of EU civil society (in relation to other fields), the symbolic order of the field of EU civil society (the capital and rules of order that shapes the field) and the structure of valuable incumbent (elite) social positions in the field. The paper draws upon a recently completed research program on EU and civil society funded by the Swedish Research Council and includes interviews and survey data with civil society organisations operating in Brussels and at national level.