Defining the Nonprofit Sector

Résumé du livre

Though the growth of the nonprofit, voluntary or third sector has been widely recognized throughout the world, social scientists have made little attempt to define it. This book fills the gap at the national level and at the global level, through comparative analysis. In the first part, Lester Salamon and Helmut Anheier attempt a comprehensive theory of the nonprofit sector. They seek to provide both a common definition and a common classification, while still recognizing the incredible diversity of voluntarism internationally. The rest of the book is devoted to country-by-country definitions of the sector in thirteen representative states from the developed, developing, and post-socialist worlds. Among the countries covered are the US, the UK, France, Germany, Japan, India, Brazil, Egypt, and Hungary. Defining the Nonprofit Sector demonstrates that the division of societies into public and private sectors is much too simplistic. A third sector with its own characteristic features and dynamics has already emerged as a powerful force in the global economy.