Griffins or Chameleons? Hybridity as a Permanent and Inevitable Characteristic of the Third Sector

• Published in: International journal of public administration Vol. 28; no. 9-10; pp. 749 - 765
• Main Authors: Brandsen, Taco, van de Donk, Wim, Putters, Kim
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Taylor & Francis Group 01-01-2005; Marcel Dekker, Inc
• Subjects: definition; Definitions; hybridity; Nonprofit Organizations; nonprofit sector; Public administration; research strategy; Social Change; Studies; third sector
• ISSN: 0190-0692; 1532-4265
• DOI: 10.1081/PAD-200067320

The term "third sector" is increasingly used, but it is also increasingly difficult to define. It is characterized by fragmentation, fuzziness, and constant change. Furthermore, the bordering domains of community, market, and state are equally difficult to define and are becoming more blurred. One may have to accept that hybridity and change are permanent features of the organizations and arrangements involved. They could be classified not with reference to the structural characteristics of abstract domains but on the basis of how they cope with conditions of hybridity and change. The search for a valid empirical definition of the third sector, however modestly ambitious, must focus on the fringes of the domain where the "hard cases" can be found-the phenomena that are most difficult to identify and therefore most likely to reveal what is essential to the different domains.