Many of today's local social associations have renounced or, at least, considerably appeased the protest character that drove their creation. They work tirelessly against social inequalities, but there is a more calm and contained attitude, both in their actions and in the public positions they exhibit on relevant citizen issues. It is as if they had learned to activate a brake in their actions to avoid potential disagreements with the Administration.
In my view, one of the elements that most energizes associations is their role as a backbone of society. They are also a crucial instrument for the adoption and implementation of public policies from the bottom up. However, the ties of dependence that bind them to the Administration are a burden for them to exercise this role.
However, allow me to highlight the commendable work carried out by these entities, which are essential in the functioning of civil society. I do not question their civic and transformative value to society, I intend to point out that they have uncritically assumed an administrative structure that has curtailed their advocacy nature. They are stuck in bureaucracy that has significantly frozen their voice, they suffer political instrumentalization and/or retaliation (cycle of ideological affinities), they have not been able to network effectively from open ideologies and for social change.
Honestly, I don't think this reflection will generate any surprise. It is evident that social entities seem to assume an instrumental role generated by the financial dependence of administrations to subsist. It could be said that the Administration is the main promoter of these social welfare initiatives.
The concern about the loss of funding, more or less stable, reduces the ability to question the sibylline mandates of the so-called public managers. The possibility of reformulating things is renounced because income could decrease.
In fact, some social associations are recognized in the eyes of citizens as the bearers of certain important services, that is, they have achieved exclusive legitimacy as guarantors of these services to the community. In this situation, there is not much protest; the established model is assumed without further ado.
