How do citizen collectives navigate tensions in scaling for transformative change?

Citizen collectives in the Netherlands are increasingly recognized as promising drivers of social cohesion, societal resilience and transformations in areas such as climate, energy, or health. As such, scaling the activities of these collectives is considered desirable. Yet scaling processes present inherent pressures and tensions, such as maintaining a grassroots nature while professionalizing and adapting to established institutional structures, which may compromise collectives’ impact on societal transformation. A critical gap remains in understanding how citizen collectives practically navigate scaling processes and resolve the tensions inherent to growth phases. Building on theoretical distinctions between scaling up, out and deep, we explore how citizen collectives navigate processes of scaling, and particularly the paradox it presents of adapting to institutional requirements - such as professionalization and formalization - to secure funding and legitimacy, while facing risks of losing connection to local communities or diluting the democratic ethos. We draw on a qualitative analysis to examine how citizen collectives experience scaling, what tensions arise through their scaling processes, and how they navigate those tensions. By offering empirically grounded insights into how citizen collectives experience and navigate scaling processes, our study contributes both to academic debates on the scaling of citizen initiatives as well as provide insights for (networks of) citizen collectives, practitioners and policymakers on how to support and accommodate citizen collectives while ensuring ownership remains with the collectives themselves.
This paper ESCP-10EMES-01 was presented in the EMES Conferences Selected Papers Series. EMES International Research Network and this particular theme: The role of Social Entrepreneurs and Social Enterprises in Boosting Societal Transitions