Third Sector Studies

Tourism and the Third Sector: Shifting Values, Changing Relationships

by William Feighery

The voluntary sector has, over the last two decades or so, moved from the margins of academic and political discourse... more The voluntary sector has, over the last two decades or so, moved from the margins of academic and political discourse to take a more prominent position in debates on civil engagement and the sectors capacity to contribute to the public good. Recent analysis of the voluntary sector in Europe has highlighted both shifts in values and changing expectations towards political, social and cultural participation. The forms as well as the motivations of engagement of citizens for the public good are changing. Partly in response to macro changes in approach to governance and the changing role of the state, and also as an outcome of the unequal distribution of economic resource within and across national jurisdictions, the Third sector has assumed an increasingly important role in arenas which were formerly the exclusive domain of the private or public sector. For example, in the United Kingdom third sector organisations have, as a direct result of government policy, substantially moved into the delivery of what were until very recently Public Services. This has placed many third sector organisations under increasing pressure to formalize and professionalize the way they work, which in turn poses challenges to the experience and spirit of volunteering in the context of an emerging “volunteering industry”. As the third sector moves closer to the organizational norms and methods of the corporate and public sector, one of the key challenges for third sector organisations is how to balance the informality of individual philanthropic action with the professionalism demanded by donors and clients.

¿Personas o mercado? La competitividad de los Centros Especiales de Trabajo y las Empresas de Inserción: un estudio de caso

by Nicolás Barbieri

Barbieri, N. y Guerra, R. (2011), “¿Personas o mercado? La competitividad de los Centros Especiales de Trabajo y las Empresas de Inserción: un estudio de caso”, Revista Española del Tercer Sector, v. 19, Set-Dic, pp. 171-181

Este trabajo se estructura en tres apartados diferentes. En primer lugar, se presenta el diseño de la investigación:... more Este trabajo se estructura en tres apartados diferentes. En primer lugar, se presenta el diseño de la investigación: objetivos, perspectiva de análisis y estrategia metodológica. Se discute la pregunta de investigación y se definen y caracterizan las EI/CET: actividades y finalidades principales, problemas a los que se enfrentan, imbricación en el Tercer Sector y la importancia de su estudio. En segundo lugar, se presentan los principales resultados de la investigación. Se indaga tanto en las oportunidades de mejora de las organizaciones como en sus ventajas competitivas. Se analiza también el dilema al que se enfrentan las organizaciones en el momento de definir su estrategia de competitividad: su orientación a las personas o al mercado. Finalmente, en tercer lugar, se presentan las aportaciones de la investigación.

Voluntariado y apoyo emocional a la familia cuidadora

by Nuria Garro-Gil

O Processo de Formação das Organizações do Terceiro Sector. Uma abordagem interdisciplinar

by Vasco Almeida

in Economia e interdisciplinaridade(s), Organizadores: Celia Lessa Kerstenetzky e Vítor Neves, Edições Almedina, 2012, no prelo.

Volunteering below the radar? Informal volunteering in urban and rural Scotland

by Mike Woolvin

This paper was given at the NCVO/VSSN 'Researching the Voluntary Sector' conference, London, September 2011. It won the Campbell Adamson Memorial Prize for best paper.

Increasing policy interest in the third sector has been well documented. Whilst more formal third sector and voluntary... more Increasing policy interest in the third sector has been well documented. Whilst more formal third sector and voluntary activity has received increasing attention, a focus on ‘below the radar’ activity has only recently developed. This has generally, however, explored groups and organisations that can be understood as ‘below the radar’. Research gaps exist regarding the nature of volunteering ‘below the radar’, and the nature and extent of such activity in more rural areas. This paper highlights a number of findings from a three year PhD study of informal volunteering - participation ‘below the radar’ - throughout the lifecourse in more deprived urban areas of Scotland. It then examines the implications of this for more rural areas. It concludes by suggesting the implications of these findings for academics, policy makers and practitioners, and outlining possible future research

Enlivened Geographies of Volunteering: Situated, Embodied and Emotional Practices of Voluntary Action

by Mike Woolvin

Scottish Geographical Journal 126 (4)

Examining the everyday practices and feelings of volunteering, in particular their situated, emotional and embodied... more Examining the everyday practices and feelings of volunteering, in particular their situated, emotional and embodied nature, serves to place the experiences of volunteers centrally in accounts of what matters in the doing of volunteering and goes beyond service provision or active citizenship. Using qualitative evidence from three collaborative research projects, we present enlivened geographies of volunteering which focus on: the situatedness of formal volunteering in place and the negotiation of local ‘moral economies’ of norms and expectations surrounding access to volunteering opportunities and the practices of volunteering; complex positionings of informal volunteering in biographies of social participation; and intersections of embodiment and emotions in experiences among environmental volunteers. We contribute to the development of social geographies which are ‘more-than-representational’ and argue that connecting insights on everyday practices of volunteering with wider policy and practice agendas requires a focus on the enduring, but also emergent and excessive nature of the spaces of doing volunteering, on the relational nature of volunteering, and on opening up debates in the networks of research-policy-practice which understand spaces of volunteering as entailing more than volunteering.

Mapping the Third Sector in Rural Scotland: an initial review of the literature

by Mike Woolvin

Published by the Scottish Government (February 2012).

Previous research commissioned by The Scottish Government has identified a pronounced knowledge gap relating to the... more Previous research commissioned by The Scottish Government has identified a pronounced knowledge gap relating to the nature and extent of the third sector in more rural areas of Scotland. This is particularly significant given the increased emphasis on the role of the third sector, and volunteering, in contributing to public service reform and the building and sustaining of civil society in a challenging economic climate. This document summarises the key themes emerging from a review of existing literature regarding voluntary activity and the third sector in rural Scotland.

ACTIVE ‘EXTENSION’ BY HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS : HOPE TO SUSTAINABLE FOOD SECURITY

by Pradeep Dwivedi

Paper presented at NATIONAL SEMINAR ON FOOD SECURITY AND SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE organised by UPRT Open University, Allahabad, UP, India, 9-10 Feb. 2012

All successful moves to more sustainable agriculture have in common coordinated action by groups or communities at the... more All successful moves to more sustainable agriculture have in common coordinated action by groups or communities at the local level (Pretty, 1995). But the problem is that platforms for resource use negotiation generally do not exist, and so need to be created and facilitated (Brinkman, 1994). Similarly, extension services by different universities/ higher education institutes and government / non- government organizations (NGOs) must have a common platform for effective delivery of non- formal education bringing behavioural changes desireable for participation in sustainable agriculture initiatives. Dwivedi (2008) suggested multi-ministerial approach by establishing an apex body to coordinate wide range of extension services and formulating Right to Extension Education (Act) to ensure efficient community engagement at different level of knowledge sharing by different stakeholders.

Cadre conceptuel pour définir la population statistique de l'économie sociale au Québec

by Marie J. Bouchard

L'innovation sociale en économie sociale

by Marie J. Bouchard

A propos de l'hétérogénéité des formes organisationnelles de l'économie sociale: isomorphisme versus écologie des organisations en économie sociale

by Marie J. Bouchard

Co-authored with Damien Rousselière, to be published in Revue canadienne de sociologie/Canadian Sociology Review

This paper addresses the problem of the diversity of social economy organizational forms. Two theoretical approaches... more This paper addresses the problem of the diversity of social economy organizational forms. Two theoretical approaches (organizational ecology and neo-institutionalism approach focusing on institutional isomorphism) establish the main forces and determinants of these organizational forms. With data from a survey on Montreal social economy, we use non-parametric (K-nearest neighbors discriminant analysis) and parametric (latent class analysis) methods to test these two concurrent theories. As a conclusion, we discuss the established stylized facts. Our results are supportive of the organizational ecology approach.

Sweden Role of Civil Society (Wijkström, Yonsei 2004)

by Filip Wijkström

Hybridisation in Non-Profit Organisations in Southern Africa: A Critical Cross-Cultural Reading

by Frederik Claeyé

In R. Hull, J. Gibbon, O. Branzei, & H. Haugh (Eds.), The third sector, Dialogues in Critical Management Studies (Vol. 1, pp. 235–258). Bingley, UK: Emerald.

Purpose – This chapter contributes to the growing debate on the diffusion of managerialist modes of thinking across... more Purpose – This chapter contributes to the growing debate on the diffusion of managerialist modes of thinking across third-sector organisations. It offers an analysis into the power dynamics at play in the emergence of hybrid management systems (HMSs) by looking at the management practices in non-profit organisations (NPOs) active in combating HIV/AIDS in South Africa.

Design/methodology/approach – In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with donor organisations and big non-governmental organisations (NGOs) based in the Northern hemisphere, and with managers and team leaders in South African NGOs. Taking a postcolonial perspective, the HMSs resulting from the encounter at the ‘glocal’ interface are investigated.

Findings – The data indicate that the power dynamics shaping the process of hybridisation work through three intertwined circuits of power: the managerialist discourse, the ‘rules of practice’ emanating from that discourse and episodic power relations at the level of interactions.

Research limitations/implications – As is the case with most qualitative research, care must be taken in generalising the findings of this research beyond the organisations participating in this study. At a theoretical level, the implications of this chapter are its contributions to three sets of literature that rarely interact: NPO management, international and cross-cultural management (ICCM) and critical management studies (CMS). At the level of organisational praxis, the findings have potential impact in terms of developing innovative ways of managing NPOs.

Originality/value – The originality and value of this chapter lies in its application of postcolonial theory to understanding hybridisation processes shaping management ideas and practices in South African NPOs.

Commentary on Chapter 8

by Frederik Claeyé

In R. Hull, J. Gibbon, O. Branzei, & H. Haugh (Eds.), The third sector, Dialogues in Critical Management Studies (Vol. 1, pp. 225–228). Bingley, UK: Emerald.

Problématique d'insertion et logement communautaire: enquête dans le quartier Hochelaga-Maisonneuve

by Marie J. Bouchard

Civil Society Generating Innovation: Co-operative and Associative Housing

by Marie J. Bouchard

Opportunity and influence: the third sector and the 2010 general election

by Jane Parry

TSRC Research Report no.44, co-authored with Pete Alcock & Jeremy Kendall

This paper explores how the different voices and interests of the third sector, political parties and media have... more This paper explores how the different voices and interests of the third sector, political parties and media have shaped and reflected the policy agenda over the course of the 2010 general election campaign and into the early post-election period. Using research methods which combined documentary analysis with qualitative interviews with key policy actors in the third sector, we examined the relative success of different campaigning methods in an election that was unique both in its uncertain electoral outcome and in terms of the relative consensus that political parties expressed at the outset towards the third sector. A range of third sector and political manifestos are considered highlighting the ideological significance of the language employed, and assessing the impact of one against the other. Attention is drawn to the raised profile achieved by the third sector early in the election campaign and reflected in its coverage in the three main parties‟ manifestos. This was followed by a relative lack of substantive sectoral discussion during the unusual period of the election and purdah, when the sector concentrated upon a consolidation and commentary role. The Conservative‟s Big Society agenda lost momentum during the election, and the Citizens UK „fourth debate‟ prompted an unexpected late surge of media interest in the sector. The new political realities of the post-election period have seen refocus on policy development and rebranding, return to third sector campaigning, and realignment in sectoral-state relations in the context of a (revived) Big Society politics.

Database on social economy organizations: The qualification criteria

by Marie J. Bouchard

Cadre conceptuel pour définir la population statistique de l'économie sociale au Québec

by Marie J. Bouchard

Co-authored with Paulo Cruz Filho and Martin St-Denis
A report for the Quebec Statistics Institute
In French

There are no official statistics about social economy in Québec (nor in Canada). Existing data is partial, comprising... more There are no official statistics about social economy in Québec (nor in Canada). Existing data is partial, comprising only one or the other component of social economy (cooperatives, mutuals or non-profit organizations), or covering only one region. This report presents a conceptual framework to guide the data collection and the production of statistics which are coherent and comparable regarding Québec’s social economy. The objective is also to contribute to the development of analytical research on social economy by identifying relevant indicators to quantitatively describe it. The Definition of Social Economy adopted in Québec in 1996, like other definitions used elsewhere in the world, underlines the primacy of social purpose over economic activity. Starting from this definition, the resulting conceptual framework establishes the type of entities, the legal status, sectors of activity and a cluster of qualification criteria of social economy organizations. It also establishes a typology of organizations. The conceptual framework also allows assessing the peripheral components in this field and forecasting its own progress. The conceptual framework must be quite general to establish the fact that the social economy is part of an international movement and at the same time specific enough to properly reflect its Québec originality.

The Repertoire of Reconstruction – Addressing Weaknesses of the Japanese State through Development of the Third Sector and Civil Society

by Russell Kabir

Submitted to the Midwest Conference on Asian Affairs in June 2011. Thesis, Bachelor's in International and Area Studies-Asian Studies at the University of Oklahoma.

Japan has a long history of disaster experiences due to its geographic location along the Pacific Ring of Fire, whose... more Japan has a long history of disaster experiences due to its geographic location along the Pacific Ring of Fire, whose fault lines have created a number of devastating earthquakes. These earthquakes and their aftermaths have posed challenges to Japan’s state capacity for disaster management. Pitfalls in the administration of political goods during crises have exposed weaknesses in the Japanese state, specifically an inadequacy by bureaucracy to react with relief in a timely and effective manner. Japanese civil society has responded to this with a push in participation, volunteerism and advocacy for non-profit and non-governmental organizations, collectively known as the “third sector,” as alternative methods for allocating and appropriating resources during disasters. In this way, the third sector has been adaptive to roles and institutions not provided or adequately addressed by the Japanese state, a political unit often characterized by its post-World War II developmental model and wealth of welfare services that made it a global industrial power that boasts the world’s highest life expectancy. Analyzing the repertoire of disaster management through comparisons between the Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995 and the current manifold crises of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami of 2011 is an effective method for observing the way that weaknesses of the Japanese state have led to the growing engagement of civil society and consequently called for the development of the third sector.