Naissance et unité du patronat associatif du secteur de l’animation

This article is a contribution to the field of sociology of the non profit sector and of employers’ unions. We study the creation of an employers’ union as part of the labour agreement governing the French sector of Community Centers. In order to do so, this text first analyses the origin of the sector and underlines the crucial role played by the French State to develop a new job market and create a new labour agreement for the sector. This public push triggered a coordination of main existing non profit organizations, which eventually led to the emergence of several employers’ unions. Although those unions were first divided when facing various crises, they eventually united and created a single union first called CNEA and then renamed Hexopée at the end of 2020. This article shows the role played by the State in the creation of employers’ trade unions in the Community Centers’ sector. It also describes how non profit organisations responded to State initiative and how this reaction is a result of organisational histories and interests of their own. JEL: L31, J51