We compare the development of the third sector in Scotland and Quebec, which have developed ecosystems that distinguish them from the liberal non-profit regimes of the UK and Canada. We employ an institutional logics framework to consider how the rules, practices, values and beliefs of these ‘stateless nations’ have formed unique structures and identities of the third sector that diverge from their broader national context. Our model demonstrates how the development of the welfare state and approaches to implementing social policy, government–third sector relationships, civic nationalism and solidarity interact in an iterative process to create distinct third sectors.
This research explores ways public service ecosystems developed during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on relationships between community-led mutual aid groups and the state. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, focus groups, and mobile ethnographic methods with 30 participants from the public sector and three mutual aid groups across Scotland. We show how relationships between mutual aid groups and the state – whether complementary, supplementary, or adversarial – shifted over the course of the pandemic. Our findings add nuance to understandings that presuppose mutual aid as antagonistic, highlighting ways that mutual aid groups may be brought into existing public service ecosystems.
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