Maier Florentine, Meyer Michael, Burkart Christian, Terzieva Berta
WU Vienna University of Economics and Bussiness, Vienna, Austria.
FH Joanneum, Kapfenberg, Austria.
Nonprofit Volunt Sect Q. 2025 Apr;54(2):327-349. doi: 10.1177/08997640241241321. Epub 2024 Apr 11.
Nonprofit organizations (NPOs) have long been recognized as playing vital roles in society. Nevertheless, a coherent understanding of how these roles align with broader social theory, and how to conceptualize the interface between nonprofits and society is still lacking. In pursuit of a solid theoretical foundation, we conducted a systematic literature review encompassing 119 publications spanning from 1959 to 2021 that delve into the societal roles of NPOs. We reason that much of prior research has implicitly adhered to a functionalist perspective akin to that proposed by Talcott Parsons nearly seven decades ago. Our review identifies four overarching societal roles fulfilled by NPOs: service delivery, advocacy, integration, and the development of cultural patterns. Recognizing the limitations of Parsonian functionalism, we advocate for a shift toward a neo-functionalist, systems-theoretical framing to allow for an analysis of societal functions that is more sensitive to the heterogeneity and contradictions pervasive in contemporary society.
非营利组织（NPOs）长期以来一直被认为在社会中发挥着至关重要的作用。然而，对于这些作用如何与更广泛的社会理论相契合，以及如何将非营利组织与社会之间的界面概念化，仍缺乏连贯的理解。为了寻求坚实的理论基础，我们进行了一项系统的文献综述，涵盖了1959年至2021年的119篇出版物，这些出版物深入探讨了非营利组织的社会作用。我们认为，许多先前的研究隐含地遵循了一种类似于近七十年前塔尔科特·帕森斯提出的功能主义观点。我们的综述确定了非营利组织履行的四个总体社会作用：服务提供、倡导、整合以及文化模式的发展。认识到帕森斯功能主义的局限性，我们主张转向新功能主义的系统理论框架，以便能够对社会功能进行更能敏锐察觉到当代社会普遍存在的异质性和矛盾性的分析。
