Abstract

The essay uses Maria Eletta Martini’s unpublished papers to reconstruct a lesser known aspect of the health reform of 1978: the recognition of social and health voluntary service sanctioned by articles 1, 45 and 71. It does so by analyzing the «legislative premises» and «political-cultural issues» of the question, placing particular attention on the thrusts coming from civil society, on Catholicism and on political differences around the role of private assistance, autonomies and public assistance and charitable institutions (Ipab). Within the debate on a framework law for assistance, this paper not only highlights an important step in reconstructing the institutionalization processes of the components of the Third sector, but also projects an eye on the evolution that the services offered by voluntary organizations experienced in the gradual italian welfare crisis.