Non-profits in social emergency policies (Boston and Lyon): towards a comparison of third sector regimes

My scholarly work analyzes the relationship between nonprofits and political dynamics, particularly as they pertain to migration and migration policy, as well as social policy in under-resourced neighborhoods. I first worked on these questions while completing my PhD by examining internal processes within voluntary associations. I examined whether such associations are places of politicization and «schools of democracy» for their members. As they became more service-oriented, functioning as the “left hand” of the state, I became interested in the connection between nonprofits and public policies, in order to examine how these developments constrained the possibilities of protest and advocacy.

In my new research, I am broadening my research questions.  I received a French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) research grant for 2023–2025. This enabled me to be a member of the comparative inequality and inclusion research cluster while serving as a visiting fellow in the Weatherhead Scholars Program at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs during the spring semester of 2024. Instead of focusing only on interactions between nonprofits and public actors, I used my time in Boston to study two social emergency policies, emergency housing and food aid policies, to understand the entire ecosystem that begets them. I’m conducting a comparative study of Lyon and Boston to understand the role of the State at various levels. I look at cities, nonprofits, foundations, religious organizations, businesses, and private actors to understand how their interactions lead to emergency social policies. The ultimate objective is to contribute to a comparative analysis of nonprofit regimes and to understand the role they play in local systems of various welfare states. 

During my visit to Harvard in Spring 2024, I identified controversies and places around which debates on the issues of emergency housing in Boston were constructed (Mass and Cass, the implementation of low-threshold shelters at Shattuck, etc.). I mapped the social actors involved, and I started a series of interviews with nonprofits, observers, journalists, and researchers (n=35). I will be back in the Boston area in the fall of 2024 to finish the interviews with government officials.

-Camille Hamidi