Creating Sense : A case study conducted in Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom’s two sections in India and Sweden about the meaning of consensus in International Non-Governmental Organizations

Abstract: The purpose of this study is, within the frame of media- and communication science, to find out how a large International Non-Governmental Organization (INGO) forms a consensus among its members within the organization and try to find out how the members interpret the meaning of the organization and why the members interpret messages in a certain way. Furthermore the purpose is to investigate whether there are of importance to have a consensus in an INGO. To analyze the results, theories about communication, sensemaking, culture, and intercultural communication will be used. The selection of theories in this study is based on the assumptions that; communication is the means by which the organization reaches the members; sensemaking (of communication) is made in the context; culture is the context; intercultural communication is a part of the understanding of the culture. The design of the study is a case study within two sections connected to the organization Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF). The qualitative methods used in this case study are participatory observations, 19 open-ended interviews, four focus group interviews and a study of organizational external and internal documents. The findings of the study shows that the traditional way of looking at communication and the discussion about that it is a necessity to have a strong consensus in organizations might not be the case for INGOs. The study also shows which intercultural challenges the world's INGOs are facing and why organizations might face problem and frustration.