Whispers in the forest : a field study about communication within Vi-agroforestry

Sammanfattning: The purpose of this study is to explore and understand the social and structural dynamics of an organization working with questions regarding development. The organization in question is Vi-agroforestry, a Swedish based NGO that works around the lake Victoria basin and the focus will be on their office in Rwanda. I have used a qualitative approach and conducted participatory observation as well as semi-structured interviews to gather data. I have emanated from the individuals in the organization by using a theory of microsociological organisationperspecive to understand how the employees create and is created by the existing social structures. (Blomberg, 2003) Even though the office in Rwanda only is a relatively small part of Vi-agroforestry’s operations it is still highly individual and independent from the rest of the organization. It has an own set of unwritten rules and a locally adapted way of acting. As of now a lot of changes are taking place in the structure and conditions for how the organization can operate, allowing an observer to notice details in how the different levels interact and what the conditions for mutual understanding can be. The office stands in front of big changes that can either divide or unify the staff.