Lefèvre, Sylvain <br/><br/>
Activists and Management Constraints: The Case of Local Branches of Handicap International 

 -  2008.<br/>							 
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<br/><br/> In some NGOs, volunteering members can be given a special responsibility. They thus have access to a different status than mere donors. For a short period of time, they can even become the NGO’s public voice and face. The authors examine the motivating factors to become and remain part of International Handicap’s local groups. Is it possible to find a “Militant’s Heaven” when facing managerial constraints? There is an ambiguous relationship to the immaterial, overwhelming, contested and “enchanted” top. Representing oneself as a NGO member therefore means taking part in a humanitarian mythology. The article uses grass root data (due to interviews and a series of observations) to illustrate how a hierarchical organization gets its members to forget about the overpowering managerial makeup, through personal gratification.