The research in this dissertation explores the social significance of local memory websites. Local memory websites offer local residents a platform where they collect and share memories about particular places or experiences in their neighbourhoods and districts. Following a systematic review and a broad field study, a narrative approach is developed to study collective levels of empowerment within the ‘Memory of East’ and the ‘Memory of West’, both in Amsterdam. Two empirical questions steer a double case study: 1) ‘How does the organizational development influence the online dynamics?’ and 2) ‘What collective empowerment do the online dynamics express?’ With its stronger social capital, the Memory of East is more likely to resist official memory intuitions, commercial popular culture and local politics than the Memory of West. On the other hand, with its more inclusive character, the Memory of West is more representative for the broad cultural backgrounds of its inhabitants than the Memory of East. These findings are shown to be related to five organizational continuums on which both websites are plotted to indicate their crucial organizational differences. Apart from a claim about the theoretical value of this model, it is illustrated how it functions as a discursive tool for the core groups behind both websites.
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Participant empowerment is a foundational goal of selforganisedhomeless care. We aim to understand how a selforganisedsetting contributes to participants' empowerment.The data we analysed (56 interviews, both open and semistructured)were generated in a longitudinal participatorycase study into Je Eigen Stek (Your own place, JES), a lowcostshelter for people experiencing homelessness in theNetherlands. JES participants experienced the freedom ofchoice and influence on their living environment. JES' fluidstructure allowed participants to adapt the program to theirdesires and needs, though participants were sometimes aspects to be either enabling or entrapping. We found someaspects (e.g., size, freedom of choice) could be entrapping orenabling, depending on personal factors. Our analysis revealedindividual freedom of choice, balancing freedom of choicewith support, offering opportunities for engagement andmaintaining fluidity in program management as core aspectsof how JES contributed to participants' empowerment.negative about having to live together. Most participantspreferred JES over regular shelters. Unlike empowermentliterature, participants mostly emphasised freedom of choiceover capacity development. JES offered opportunities forsocial and organisational engagement, through which participantsdeveloped roles, skills and self-image. However, alimited number of participants developed leadership rolesthrough self-management. Literature suggests setting
DOCUMENT
Although multi-disciplinary cooperation between professionals is a prerequisite to provideintegrated care in the community, this seems hard to realise in practice. Yet, little is knownabout the experiences of professionals who implement it nor about the organisational fea-tures professionals identify as empowering during this cooperation process. Therefore,a case study of a multi-disciplinary geriatric team was performed. The data-collectionincluded observations of meetings, in-depth interviews and focus groups with professionals(N = 12). Data were analysed inductively and related to the three organisational levels withinthe model of organisational empowerment of Peterson and Zimmerman. Signs of empow-ering organisational features on the intraorganisational level were mutual trust and clearworking routines. On the interorganisational level important features included improvedlinkages between participating organisations and increased insight into each other’s tasks.Tensions occurred relating to the inter- and the extraorganisational level. Professionals feltthat the commitment of the management of involved organisations should be improvedjust as the capacity of the team to influence (local) policy. It is recommended that poli-cymakers should not determine the nature of professional cooperation in advance, but toleave that to the local context as well as to the judgement of involved professionals.
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