The Moral Economy of the Third Sector

Building on the rich scholarly lineage of the “moral economy” concept, this theoretical essay re-interprets the contemporary third sector—non-profit, voluntary and philanthropic organizations, and social enterprises—as a moral economy in its own right. After reconstructing the term’s historical and conceptual trajectories, the article maps six emblematic value dimensions that orient third-sector practice: charity, philanthropy, solidarity, humanitarianism, community and volunteerism, and civicness. The typology supplies an analytical framework that complements market- or state-centric explanations of nonprofits, sheds light on cross-field and cross-country differences, and foregrounds the intrinsic motivations that lie beyond instrumental rationality. By repositioning debates about the third sector’s economic functions within its ethical foundations, the essay offers a generative vocabulary for studying how organizations mobilize moral commitments to meet social needs and nurture civic engagement, urging scholars to put values at the center of analyses of nonprofit behavior, governance, and impact.