ABSTRACT
This chapter illustrates the associations’ agency by analyzing the activation of localized networks under the normative frame of professionalization. Notably, it sheds light on mechanisms of NGOization of local associations by showing how their organizational structures have adapted, their cultivation of competences through the recruitment of professional experts, and the specialization of their activities. In light of this, the chapter shows how most associations have progressively internalized the neoliberal model of civil society as a strategy of adaptation to exploit emerging opportunities under new constraints. Therefore, I demonstrate that the process of professionalization—the acquisition of a new professional language and practices—acts as a sort of “access code” to participate in the post-authoritarian redefinition of the public sphere.
