Hybrid Actor: A New Phenomenon in the Field of Non-State Actors

Abstract

This paper argues that the contemporary state of the conceptualization of
the non-state actor is no longer sufficient in the context of recent
developments of non-state actors, and calls for a reconceptualization. We
thus present the concept of the hybrid actor, that is, an actor which
combines the features and activities of different traditional types of non-state actors. On the basis of the typological framework we can define it as
the kind of actor which has both political and economic aims and at the
same time a type of inner organization that is characterized by features of
different kind of structures. The process of hybridization is, among other
things, influenced by the possibility of transnationalization and cooperation
with other actors. This kind of actor has specific characteristics to such an
extent that it gives a reason for the creation of a new category of non-state
actors. The process of the hybridization of the non-state actor, according to
an analysis of contemporary salient trends, will rather grow in its volume,
even more underscoring the importance of the reconceptualization.