The Third Sector in Europe [antikvár]

IntroductionAdalbert Evers and Jean-Louis LavilleIn the last decade of the twentieth century, it seemed as if Europe was about to rediscover itself through the eyes of an American legacy. What Tocqueville had detected in the formative process of the United States - the role of freely founded associations formed by active citizens became an important point of reference in Europe for a broad debate on the history and role of a 'third sector', and the notion of a 'non-profit sector', a label that had been coined in the United States, became a buzzword for both research and public debate. Furthermore, in an increasingly internationalized academic sector, US-led comparative empirical research gave the concept of the non-profit sector a much higher profile.Obviously, Europe has its own legacy of research on third sector issues, but such research has commonly been linked to national discourses and therefore, in contrast to the more recent US-led research, has had little significance at the European level. The diversity of labels and approaches mirrors the broad and different traditions of non-profit organizations in Europe - mutuals, cooperatives, associations, charities and voluntary organizations.Bearing in mind this plurality of movements, organizations and notions, and the new European interest in what has for some years been widely referred to by the neutral term 'third sector', the influences from the United States have been of mixed utility. First, the theoretical concepts underlining US contributions to the debate mirror a history that does not correspond to contemporary European reality. In many regions in Europe, organizations with a not-for-profit orientation working within a social economy tradition have always made profits or a surplus. Furthermore, many US-led studies and debates were dominated by an economic approach that explained the so-called 'non-profit' organizations as a result of market and state failures. According to this understanding, consumers realize an institutional choice in their preference, under certain conditions, for the third sector over private business or public service. This theoretical current exemplifies an extension of neoclassic reasoning by which rational choice and methodological individualism are central and where clear frontiers are established between the three sectors, private business, public service and non-profit.In contrast, the growing European academic interest in the third sector took, for the most part, a sociological and political science perspective. And there/