Introduction or preface

The development of the Third Sector in Republican Italy has never been analyzed in depth in recent historiography. Its growing employment importance could now constitute a new research field for labour history. This essay aims to demonstrate why it is so significant and it will do so firstly by reconstructing the terms of the debate on nonprofits and labour and on the regulation of voluntary work in flex¬ibility, secondly by analyzing the impact of European policies on the non profit care services marketing.