The persuasion of evaluation
The argumentation for social investment fund evaluation in Swedish local government
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2301461 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Kettil Nordesjö (0000-0003-3565-6563, Malmö University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 68 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 532-541 |
| Publication date | 2025-11-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Acta Sociologica (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0001-6993 • E-ISSN: 1502-3869 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/00016993251322878 |
| OpenAlex | W4408524160 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 22 |
In recent years, measuring devices and movements, such as the social investment perspective, have gained traction, allowing organisations to show the impact and social value of their work. A common characteristic is the persuasive rhetoric of how evaluation, quantification and measurement can improve human service organisations. The aim of this article is to unfold the argumentation for social investment fund (SIF) evaluation in human service organisations in three Swedish municipalities, exposing the logics according to which such proceedings are justified and legitimised in contemporary Swedish welfare state. The article draws on qualitative data from interviews with managers, evaluators and social investment staff, and evaluation reports from three Swedish municipalities. Using modality theory, according to which argumentation and reason are performed, findings reveal that SIF evaluation is promoted as a scientific construct with the possibility of producing certainty in the form of evidence regarding what works in a linear knowledge transfer model. Also, municipalities are portrayed as morally responsible for conducting SIF evaluations, emphasising that despite methodological challenges, pursuing such evaluations remains worthwhile. In this sense, SIF evaluation promotes an argument centred on two mutually reinforcing themes: scientific legitimacy and societal legitimacy
Argumentation theory · Business · Economics · Government (linguistics · Investment (military · Local government · Persuasion · Political science · Politics · Public economics · Public relations · Community Development and Social Impact · demographic modeling and climate adaptation · Law · Psychology · Public Administration · Social Capital and Networks · Social Psychology
Toward a Comparative Sociology of Valuation and Evaluation
Human services as complex organizations
Caring Capitalism
Social Impact Measurement
What’s the story on addiction? Popular myths in the USA and Finland
Evidence-based practice in social work
State governing of knowledge’ – constraining social work research and practice
The constitutive effects of social investment evaluation
Understanding evaluation practice within the context of social investment
Evaluation Paradoxes
Evidence-based practice and the ethics of care
The Institutional Logics Perspective
Dilemmas in a general theory of planning
Possible Worlds of Fiction and History
The Political Uses of Expert Knowledge
| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |