en pl
en pl

Tamara: Journal for Critical Organization Inquiry

Show issue
Year 2008 
Volume 7 
Issue 2

A Narrative construction of the organization by an external party: The nongovernmental organization narrative by the United Nations

Cagri Topal
University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada

2008 7 (2) Tamara: Journal for Critical Organization Inquiry

Abstract

The focus of this paper is the narrative construction of the nongovernmental organization (NGO) by the United Nations. How the NGO is conceptualized and communicated by a legitimate institution like the UN is critical for both the sustainability of NGOs and the social benefit created by them. This is because the allocation of resources to NGOs is directly affected by the understanding of what an NGO is. The data come from the 20 speeches of the 54th annual conference (2001) titled as ‘NGOs today: Diversity of the Volunteer Experience’ at the UN headquarters. The results of the study are derived from a critical reading of these 20 narratives. This is a procedure of reading the texts several times, back and forth. Through a participative process, the UN narratively constructs NGOs in terms of volunteerism, diversity, civil society, cooperation with governments, global problems, professionalism, and youth involvement. A preliminary theory of participative narrative construction is outlined.

Full metadata record

Cite this record

APA style

Topal, Cagri (2008). A Narrative construction of the organization by an external party: The nongovernmental organization narrative by the United Nations. (2008). A Narrative construction of the organization by an external party: The nongovernmental organization narrative by the United Nations. Tamara: Journal For Critical Organization Inquiry, 7(2), 111-125. (Original work published 2008)

MLA style

Topal, Cagri. “A Narrative Construction Of The Organization By An External Party: The Nongovernmental Organization Narrative By The United Nations”. 2008. Tamara: Journal For Critical Organization Inquiry, vol. 7, no. 2, 2008, pp. 111-125.

Chicago style

Topal, Cagri. “A Narrative Construction Of The Organization By An External Party: The Nongovernmental Organization Narrative By The United Nations”. Tamara: Journal For Critical Organization Inquiry, Tamara: Journal for Critical Organization Inquiry, 7, no. 2 (2008): 111-125.