Swedish Save the Children International in changing times. Framing and story-telling for the organisation’s new identity
In the process of expanding its activities in Sweden, from having worked primarily with influence and impact, to offering wealth fare services of education, employment and healthcare, the organisation Save the Children will need an increased awareness of how it frames its undertakings as well as of what stories it tells. Framing concerns not only what key concepts are used, but also their internal logic, how paragraphs sentences are structured and how the grammar and vocabulary harmonize with the intended message. The aim of the proposed project is to study how Save the Children currently frames its actions and tells stories, both externally and internally, and how the framing and story-telling need to alter as the organisation’s identity changes. Two sets of data will be collected, first a set of text data, including pictures and video-clips from Save the Children, and second a set of ethnographic data, more specifically interviews with and observations of the organisation’s members and employees. The data will be approached by a variety of methods, such as concept analysis, rhetoric analysis and narrative analysis. Finally, recommendations will be suggested concerning possible modifications of framing and alternative stories, in order to assist the organisation in strengthening and communicating its new identity.
Final report
Project purpose and development
The purpose of the project was to study how Save the Children Sweden frames and narrates its activities, both externally and internally, and how these framings and narratives need to change as the organisation moves towards a new identity by beginning to offer welfare services in the areas of education, youth recreation activities, and health and social care. The organisation had highlighted a perceived division between, on the one hand, its role as a popular movement within civil society, and on the other hand, its role as an actor in the market. The ambition of the proposed project was to examine this division to better understand its risks and its potential to be transformed into a new, integrated entity. More specifically, the study of framings and narratives concerned language use related to positioning as a societal actor, including internal power relations, linguistic concepts, discourses, and legitimacy.
The purpose was further developed into an examination of the division by studying how the two different parts – on the one hand, the role as a popular movement in civil society, and on the other hand, the role as a market actor – negotiated change in the organisation’s activities. In doing so, the study’s character as a critical discourse analysis was strengthened.
In my work to understand how the two different parts operated, I familiarised myself with activities carried out by what could be described as the “popular movement part” and activities carried out by the “market actor part”. Activities belonging to the “market” included youth recreation centres, one of which I visited in Tensta; the training programme Trauma-Informed Care, which I studied through online sources; and Love Is Free (Kärleken är fri), with which I familiarised myself at the secretariat. At the time, Love Is Free was Save the Children’s initiative addressing honour-related violence and oppression.
Project implementation in brief
I collected data by constructing a corpus consisting of internal and external texts. The corpus included documents such as the organisation’s statutes, platforms of value, strategic plans, as well as motions and bills submitted to national meetings. The corpus amounted to just over one million words distributed across 129 documents. In addition, I produced field notes comprising approximately 240,000 words across 12 notebooks. I also held informal conversations with employees at the secretariat and with members.
The material was analysed using legitimation analysis, that is, examining how different actors within the organisation argued why certain courses of action should be taken. I also conducted intertextual analyses to examine how different texts interacted with and referred to each other. For example, members opposing the new market-oriented activities referred to the statutes in their motions to the national meeting, while those in favour of the market activities drew on the strategic plan to support their arguments.
Furthermore, I carried out metaphor analyses, which showed that advocates of the new activities used metaphors related to goals, such as “setting goals” for the new direction. Those who questioned the market-oriented activities instead used metaphors related to vision, such as “seeing risks” in investing in welfare services. I also analysed the use of narratives and found that proponents of welfare services constructed a strong narrative in which the organisation appeared as part of the popular movements that built the welfare state during the twentieth century, a narrative that I identified as having certain weaknesses in its veracity. Finally, I analysed the use of the pronoun “we” to examine whether there were differences between the two sides. Proponents of welfare services combined “we” with verbs expressing action, emphasising the organisation’s strength and potential, while those questioning the welfare services more often combined “we” with verbs expressing opinions, such as “we believe”, and states, such as “we are”, highlighting a more analytical and reflective stance. The discourses present within the organisation that influenced the debate on welfare services were a market discourse, a social innovation discourse, a rights discourse, and a member democracy discourse.
A related side project on honour-related violence and oppression
While I was embedded as a researcher at Save the Children, an opportunity also arose to investigate a related issue concerning how the organisation could work with honour-related violence and oppression. Due to my expertise regarding charged words and concepts, I became interested in how young people in areas where honour norms are present perceive the concept of “honour”. I was invited to attend one school week during which the organisation implemented Love Is Free – School Week, and I collected material in the form of focus group interviews and classroom observations.
In this side project, I investigated how young people understood the concept of “honour”, how they read a novel dealing with “honour” in Swedish language classes, and which questions they asked during an author visit when the novelist visited the school. This work was carried out together with Associate Professor Pia Raattamaa Visén, whose expertise in the didactics of Swedish as a school subject enriched the project. The methods used included analyses of modal expressions such as “want”, “can”, and “must not”; speech acts such as questions, directives, and statements; close reading and thematic analysis of the novel; and thematic analysis of the students’ questions to the author.
The results showed that young people distinguished between different aspects of honour. Some concerned responsibility, making one’s parents proud, being a good friend, showing respect, and behaving properly, while other aspects involved restrictions on freedom in relation to friendship and love, and in the worst cases violence and/or forced marriage. The reading of the novel took place both “with” the book, that is, the students accepted the norms and values opposed to honour norms conveyed by the author, and “against” the book, meaning that the students questioned and problematised these values. One such problematisation concerned whether parental restrictions might in fact be expressions of care.
Contribution to increased collaboration between academia and organisations outside academia
Two undergraduate students wrote theses in which they collected material from Save the Children Sweden and studied issues that the organisation itself wanted to have clarified, such as how its external communication functioned (2022 and 2023). In 2023, a representative from Save the Children Sweden visited Stockholm University to present the organisation’s activities and discuss research questions it would like to see investigated. The visit took place at a staff meeting where two other organisations outside academia were invited, namely representatives from the Swedish National Agency for Education and staff from a preschool. The entire meeting, with the theme of collaboration, was a direct result of the Flexit project.
The side project on honour-related violence and oppression also resulted in two invitations to present conference papers to practicioners. The first was organised by the National Centre against Honour-Related Violence and Oppression in Linköping in 2024, and the second by the Swedish Gender Equality Agency in Gothenburg in 2025. Both conferences resulted in contacts with social workers, school counsellors, teachers, and school nurses, where ideas for new research projects emerged.
Main results of the project
The debate on welfare services that took place within Save the Children Sweden between 2016 and 2022, in which different discourses were visible – a market discourse, a social innovation discourse, a rights discourse, and a member democracy discourse – is part of a broader discussion concerning the role of the non-profit sector in the Swedish welfare state. Proponents of welfare services within Save the Children Sweden put forward arguments consistent with a market discourse and a social innovation discourse. They envisioned a development towards a liberal welfare economy, like how several European countries, such as Italy and Austria, have organised welfare provision, where, for example, the church plays a major role in healthcare, preschools and schools.
Those who questioned welfare services within Save the Children Sweden instead wished to retain the social democratic welfare model, in which the public sector provides the majority of welfare services – a model that has developed in the Nordic countries. These individuals advanced arguments rooted in a rights discourse and a member democracy discourse. In Sweden, as in the rest of the Western world, democratic membership-based organisations are losing members. The shift is towards a customer perspective, where it is attractive to join an organisation to receive certain benefits (for example becoming a “loyal customer” at a supermarket) rather than participating in association meetings to advance issues locally and nationally. Although many citizens wish to engage, this engagement increasingly takes the form of volunteering for limited projects over a short period, rather than becoming members with democratic commitments such as attending meetings or serving on boards.
From the side project, I would particularly like to highlight how the concept of “honour” for young people in areas where honour norms are present can encompass both positive aspects—such as responsibility, good behaviour and respect—and negative aspects, such as restrictions on freedom and violence. If honour norms were solely associated with negative aspects for all involved, they would likely have been abolished long ago. To reach young people who will one day become parents themselves, practitioners in schools, healthcare and social services need to understand the perceived benefits of honour norms. In dialogue with young people, for example in schools, it is important to address questions such as: for whom are these aspects positive, at whose expense do respect and proper behaviour occur, and what does it mean to behave properly, and why?
New research questions
During my Flexit project, I also collected data that I have not yet analysed. Part of this material consists of interview data from Save the Children, both from representatives of the secretariat and from members. I am interested in analysing these data to examine the role that narratives play when different actors position themselves in relation to the role of the non-profit sector in the welfare state. I also collected data from young people living in contexts where honour norms are present. These data will be analysed to understand where young people’s knowledge of honour originates—whether from family, friends, school, social media, or other sources.
The purpose of the project was to study how Save the Children Sweden frames and narrates its activities, both externally and internally, and how these framings and narratives need to change as the organisation moves towards a new identity by beginning to offer welfare services in the areas of education, youth recreation activities, and health and social care. The organisation had highlighted a perceived division between, on the one hand, its role as a popular movement within civil society, and on the other hand, its role as an actor in the market. The ambition of the proposed project was to examine this division to better understand its risks and its potential to be transformed into a new, integrated entity. More specifically, the study of framings and narratives concerned language use related to positioning as a societal actor, including internal power relations, linguistic concepts, discourses, and legitimacy.
The purpose was further developed into an examination of the division by studying how the two different parts – on the one hand, the role as a popular movement in civil society, and on the other hand, the role as a market actor – negotiated change in the organisation’s activities. In doing so, the study’s character as a critical discourse analysis was strengthened.
In my work to understand how the two different parts operated, I familiarised myself with activities carried out by what could be described as the “popular movement part” and activities carried out by the “market actor part”. Activities belonging to the “market” included youth recreation centres, one of which I visited in Tensta; the training programme Trauma-Informed Care, which I studied through online sources; and Love Is Free (Kärleken är fri), with which I familiarised myself at the secretariat. At the time, Love Is Free was Save the Children’s initiative addressing honour-related violence and oppression.
Project implementation in brief
I collected data by constructing a corpus consisting of internal and external texts. The corpus included documents such as the organisation’s statutes, platforms of value, strategic plans, as well as motions and bills submitted to national meetings. The corpus amounted to just over one million words distributed across 129 documents. In addition, I produced field notes comprising approximately 240,000 words across 12 notebooks. I also held informal conversations with employees at the secretariat and with members.
The material was analysed using legitimation analysis, that is, examining how different actors within the organisation argued why certain courses of action should be taken. I also conducted intertextual analyses to examine how different texts interacted with and referred to each other. For example, members opposing the new market-oriented activities referred to the statutes in their motions to the national meeting, while those in favour of the market activities drew on the strategic plan to support their arguments.
Furthermore, I carried out metaphor analyses, which showed that advocates of the new activities used metaphors related to goals, such as “setting goals” for the new direction. Those who questioned the market-oriented activities instead used metaphors related to vision, such as “seeing risks” in investing in welfare services. I also analysed the use of narratives and found that proponents of welfare services constructed a strong narrative in which the organisation appeared as part of the popular movements that built the welfare state during the twentieth century, a narrative that I identified as having certain weaknesses in its veracity. Finally, I analysed the use of the pronoun “we” to examine whether there were differences between the two sides. Proponents of welfare services combined “we” with verbs expressing action, emphasising the organisation’s strength and potential, while those questioning the welfare services more often combined “we” with verbs expressing opinions, such as “we believe”, and states, such as “we are”, highlighting a more analytical and reflective stance. The discourses present within the organisation that influenced the debate on welfare services were a market discourse, a social innovation discourse, a rights discourse, and a member democracy discourse.
A related side project on honour-related violence and oppression
While I was embedded as a researcher at Save the Children, an opportunity also arose to investigate a related issue concerning how the organisation could work with honour-related violence and oppression. Due to my expertise regarding charged words and concepts, I became interested in how young people in areas where honour norms are present perceive the concept of “honour”. I was invited to attend one school week during which the organisation implemented Love Is Free – School Week, and I collected material in the form of focus group interviews and classroom observations.
In this side project, I investigated how young people understood the concept of “honour”, how they read a novel dealing with “honour” in Swedish language classes, and which questions they asked during an author visit when the novelist visited the school. This work was carried out together with Associate Professor Pia Raattamaa Visén, whose expertise in the didactics of Swedish as a school subject enriched the project. The methods used included analyses of modal expressions such as “want”, “can”, and “must not”; speech acts such as questions, directives, and statements; close reading and thematic analysis of the novel; and thematic analysis of the students’ questions to the author.
The results showed that young people distinguished between different aspects of honour. Some concerned responsibility, making one’s parents proud, being a good friend, showing respect, and behaving properly, while other aspects involved restrictions on freedom in relation to friendship and love, and in the worst cases violence and/or forced marriage. The reading of the novel took place both “with” the book, that is, the students accepted the norms and values opposed to honour norms conveyed by the author, and “against” the book, meaning that the students questioned and problematised these values. One such problematisation concerned whether parental restrictions might in fact be expressions of care.
Contribution to increased collaboration between academia and organisations outside academia
Two undergraduate students wrote theses in which they collected material from Save the Children Sweden and studied issues that the organisation itself wanted to have clarified, such as how its external communication functioned (2022 and 2023). In 2023, a representative from Save the Children Sweden visited Stockholm University to present the organisation’s activities and discuss research questions it would like to see investigated. The visit took place at a staff meeting where two other organisations outside academia were invited, namely representatives from the Swedish National Agency for Education and staff from a preschool. The entire meeting, with the theme of collaboration, was a direct result of the Flexit project.
The side project on honour-related violence and oppression also resulted in two invitations to present conference papers to practicioners. The first was organised by the National Centre against Honour-Related Violence and Oppression in Linköping in 2024, and the second by the Swedish Gender Equality Agency in Gothenburg in 2025. Both conferences resulted in contacts with social workers, school counsellors, teachers, and school nurses, where ideas for new research projects emerged.
Main results of the project
The debate on welfare services that took place within Save the Children Sweden between 2016 and 2022, in which different discourses were visible – a market discourse, a social innovation discourse, a rights discourse, and a member democracy discourse – is part of a broader discussion concerning the role of the non-profit sector in the Swedish welfare state. Proponents of welfare services within Save the Children Sweden put forward arguments consistent with a market discourse and a social innovation discourse. They envisioned a development towards a liberal welfare economy, like how several European countries, such as Italy and Austria, have organised welfare provision, where, for example, the church plays a major role in healthcare, preschools and schools.
Those who questioned welfare services within Save the Children Sweden instead wished to retain the social democratic welfare model, in which the public sector provides the majority of welfare services – a model that has developed in the Nordic countries. These individuals advanced arguments rooted in a rights discourse and a member democracy discourse. In Sweden, as in the rest of the Western world, democratic membership-based organisations are losing members. The shift is towards a customer perspective, where it is attractive to join an organisation to receive certain benefits (for example becoming a “loyal customer” at a supermarket) rather than participating in association meetings to advance issues locally and nationally. Although many citizens wish to engage, this engagement increasingly takes the form of volunteering for limited projects over a short period, rather than becoming members with democratic commitments such as attending meetings or serving on boards.
From the side project, I would particularly like to highlight how the concept of “honour” for young people in areas where honour norms are present can encompass both positive aspects—such as responsibility, good behaviour and respect—and negative aspects, such as restrictions on freedom and violence. If honour norms were solely associated with negative aspects for all involved, they would likely have been abolished long ago. To reach young people who will one day become parents themselves, practitioners in schools, healthcare and social services need to understand the perceived benefits of honour norms. In dialogue with young people, for example in schools, it is important to address questions such as: for whom are these aspects positive, at whose expense do respect and proper behaviour occur, and what does it mean to behave properly, and why?
New research questions
During my Flexit project, I also collected data that I have not yet analysed. Part of this material consists of interview data from Save the Children, both from representatives of the secretariat and from members. I am interested in analysing these data to examine the role that narratives play when different actors position themselves in relation to the role of the non-profit sector in the welfare state. I also collected data from young people living in contexts where honour norms are present. These data will be analysed to understand where young people’s knowledge of honour originates—whether from family, friends, school, social media, or other sources.