The Social Generative Action of the Third Sector. Comparing International Experiences

This book highlights the most recent social, cultural and institutional developments of the third sector in Europe and the US. It is an inter-disciplinary text, which convenes the contribution of scholars belonging to different areas in the social science sphere (sociologists, political scientists, jurists). Particularly, the focus is to evaluate the role of different agents, relationships and social policies not just from a service provision perspective but also in their true impact in shaping the society as a whole, while trying to address its most crucial needs. Furthermore, the presentation of the main and most recent empirical evidences from different contexts stimulates some very useful remarks about the current and perspective situation at a global level. The book is divided into three parts: the first one puts in comparison different theoretical approaches towards the definition and the interpretation of the third sector. The second set of chapters may be considered an attempt to understand more in depth the profound inter-connections between third sector organizations and other actors in the welfare system, by analyzing significant experiences from different European countries. The third part of the book contains the report of a number of different researches, in the attempt to validate what previously debated from a theoretical point of view.