Local Development Initiatives and the Diversity of their Guidelines

Abstract

Local Development Initiatives (LDIs) are becoming more and more known today for their work in developing local communities. The actions carried out speak for themselves: supporting disadvantaged social groups, launching initiatives of a social, economic and cultural nature, promoting employability, encouraging participation and empowerment, joint action with local authorities... However, the diversity of guidelines on which a work and intervention plan is based is less know. What moves them? Which dominant senses do they confer on their action? Why do values ​​and representations guide their choices in terms of priorities for intervention? This text summarizes some of the conclusions drawn from a PhD research, culminating in the presentation of the thesis "Associativism and New Social Ties: Local Development Initiatives in Portugal". It focuses in particular on the presentation of a typology identifying four LDI profiles, according to the dominant orientations of its action: instrumental orientation, public orientation, autonomous and solidarity orientation, and militant orientation.