La mercatizzazione strisciante: ibridazione, cooperative sociali e welfare locale in Italia

CREEPING MARKETIZATION: HYBRIDIZATION, SOCIAL COOPERATIVES, AND LOCAL WELFARE IN ITALY. The marketisation of social services is an increasingly important topic on the research agenda of the third sector and local welfare. In recent years, there has been widespread acceptance of the benefits that can be derived from marketisation. In Italy, too, the number of third sector organisations selling services to private clients is increasing. This article aims to analyse the dynamics and effects of this emerging process through the results of a survey on a national sample of social cooperatives. The research highlights the different trajectories of marketisation and the advantages and risks of the spread of private welfare markets to replace the more traditional welfare mix systems.