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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 April 2022
Chapter aims
This chapter aims to:
• explore definitional issues in the category black and minority ethnic third sector;
• consider what the characteristics of the BME third sector might be, and what types of organisations might be included within the term;
• discuss research on some sub-categories of third sector organisation that are commonly defined as BME.
Introduction
There is a wealth of material on the black and minority ethnic (BME) third sector; much of this is produced by and for BME third sector organisations (TSOs). Despite the plethora of publications, there is little empirical evidence from systematic comparative analyses between the BME and other TSOs. Without this, the (potential) implications of these differences can run the risk of being treated as nothing more than rhetoric. The aim of this chapter is to contribute towards improving the foundations of knowledge on the BME third sector (BME TS) through discussing some of the challenges involved in identifying the BME TS as well as key issues faced by different types of BME organisations, and foregrounding gaps in the literature.
The chapter is structured as follows: the next section explores some of the definitional issues that arise when one begins to discuss the BME TS. Following this is a discussion of some of the defining characteristics of the BME TS, notwithstanding the definitional issues already identified. The next section disaggregates the BME TS and discusses four different types of organisation in turn: refugee community organisations, diasporic and/or immigrant organisations, ‘Black’ organisations, and faith-based organisation. The final section identifies some key learning points from the chapter.
The BME third sector
Definitional issues: is there a distinctive BME third sector?
The idea that BME voluntary and community organisations (VCOs) are distinctive from non-BME VCOs appears intuitively correct. This may particularly be the case in the experiential settings of some TSOs, where the unique experiences of BME people, and by the extension the challenges faced by organisations working with them, may appear self-apparent. Yet pinning down what might be meant by the BME third sector as an analytical unit is more difficult. What can and cannot be included in the concept of the third sector has been the subject of extensive debate (see, for example, Halfpenny and Reid, 2002; Alcock, 2010) and the category BME is no different.
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