Il welfare di comunit? come terreno conteso. Processi di riorganizzazione sul confine tra pubblico e privato

In Italy, community welfare has become a key yet ambiguous concept in the ongoing reorganization of social policies. Presented as a participatory and proximity-based response to the welfare state crisis, it often conceals tensions between public restructuring and community empowerment. This article examines the QuBì program in Milan – initially launched by Fondazione Cariplo and later institutionalized by the Municipality – as a case where public and private boundaries are redefined through hybrid governance. Based on 30 interviews, document analysis and field observation within the PNRR MUSA project, the research highlights how co-programming and co-design between public institutions and the third sector generate both opportunities for collaboration and new forms of proceduralization. While community networks act as social infrastructures enhancing local cooperation, they also risk reproducing inequalities through unstable, project-based funding. The findings suggest that community welfare may result in an «institutionalization without rights», where partnerships and procedures are formalized without ensuring stable redistributive guarantees. The article argues that its transformative potential depends on overcoming these contradictions to promote lasting forms of local citizenship and social justice.