Les dimensions sociopolitiques du tiers secteur

Abstract

According to the prevailing models in English texts, the third sector refers to the non-profit organizations that provide alternative goods and services. Contrary to this reductionist, one-dimensional approach, a socio-political analysis is proposed that defines the third sector as a component of ‘public space in civil societies’. This sector is not independent; it lies at the intersection between the state, the marketplace and the informal sector. Linking these various spaces and combining various resources and social rationalities, this sector is characterized by the diversity of the ‘modes of hybridization’ used by associations in the sector. The latter thus contribute to the socialization of the welfare state while opening new ‘spaces’ for democratic debate and civic involvement. This approach enables us to place the third sector at the centre of the system of ‘plural social protection’, which characterizes modern democratic welfare systems, and to reformulate current debates, by providing them with a theoretical basis, on ‘social citizenship’ and the participatory economy.