ISTR Fourth International Conference Dublin, Ireland / July 5-8, 2000 The Third Sector: For What and For Whom?

Ingo Bode bode@uni-duisburg.de

In recent times, there has been much discussion about the role of nonprofit organizations do or should play in the evolution of labour markets of western societies. Much hope was put into the capacity of these organizations to identify new social demands and to provide for more working facilities, thus inducing some containment of the labour market crisis. Before reflecting on these potentials we should get aware of how existing labour markets in the Third sector actually develop, and of which kind working facilities are in new organizational settings. As far as Germany is concerned, considerable tranformations of Third sector labour markets take place. While employment growth in the past was due the infusion of public sector regulations into the field of social and medical services, new forms of employment have a quite different character and form distinct labour market segments. In these segments, fixed-term, project and freelance employment becomes the norm. A new just-in-time rationality of Third sector organizations emerges.

Case study research from the nonprofit social service sector shows what is going on. It starts with a picture of the so-called corporatist era where nonprofit organizations received a general mission to serve social needs they identified themselves. This mission was filled out by academic professions who were lead by a work rationality based on a long term outcome orientation and on wholistic approaches of the persons cared for. While the social milieus and its political representatives took their performance for granted, service structures could systematically be hold out to meet a diffuse and roughly defined demand. Non profit agencies could offer standard and long term employment in accordance with public sector norms, and the organizations got the status of a general welfare agency, a "maid-of-all-work" so to speak.

What we can see today is that the type of relationship between the organizations and their environments is of crucial importance. For there is a considerable shift in this relationship, with changing organizational settings as its consequence. As public regulations do not systematically shelter work facilities in the Third sector any more, employment in this sector is going to be transformed. State policies are indeed more and more unsteady and follow a short term logic by limited contracts. They do not guarantee for long term subsidies any longer. What follows from this is that the survival of nonprofit organizations becomes increasingly dependent on other environments. But these environments are difficult to handle. Nonprofit organizations face growing dependencies on fluid markets and on volatile civil society support which has to be mobilized by hard

and intense networking. This, however, makes working facilities subject to considerable demands of flexibility.

Compared with former times, the welfare state comes out to become a system of repeated risk bargaining. Tight social milieus have been replaced by a quite heterogenous mass of citizens or actors with changing attitudes. This may stimulate fundraising fantasies and allow for new types of activities. Moreover, nonprofit organizations could be lead to a more immediate environmental sensitivity and to greater short term efficiency. The required risk management, however, makes strategic development of people processing activities or sociopoliticial projects much more demanding. The crucial problem is that if employment becomes contingent on the way nonprofit work fits short term expectations and missions, the heart of nonprofit activities, that is autonomous, solidary and wholistic thinking, suffers. And it is not sure if this is prone to provide for some further expansion of the Third sector as a promising labour market.

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