Characteristics and transformations of organised civil society: expertise, mediation and power
This project aims to study "organised civil society" in three of its forms: social movement through the social and inclusive economy; parapolitical groups and alternative political movements; technical democracy. For each of these fields, it aims to analyse the types of structuring at three key moments: the foundations in the first half of the 19th century, the period of heavy institutionalisation after the Second World War and finally the contemporary period. France will be at the forefront of the study though comparisons will be drawn with concurrent situations elsewhere.
The theoretical model clearly falls within the framework of neo-institutionalist theories of political analysis, in particular those relating to historical institutionalism. The latter, through comparison and a historical approach, intends to update the institutionalisation processes and the ways of constructing and increasing the longevity of institutional order. Halfway between the great abstract theories (structural functionalism, functionalism, rational choice, etc.) and casuistic analysis, it therefore aims to provide a middle-range perspective, stemming from a possible contextualisation as a result of the diachronic and comparative approach.