In Quebec, the deployment of neoliberal social regulation is accompanied by a growth in the number of charitable organizations and the interpenetration of social policy and charitable practices. This rebirth of charity is intimately related to the transformation of its institutional form. The process of institutionalizing of charity during modernity, at once an ideological and a judicial dynamic, culminated in the 19th century with the introduction of a system of charitable social assistance which conformed to the principles of the liberal ethic. Though the rebirth of charity rests on this institutional heritage, its current evolution is guided by decidedly "postmodern" determinations. The ideological and judicial dimensions of modern charity are based on the "communication" practices of a type of charity which has become a financing technique rather than either an ethical ideal or a political project. The rebirth of charity has resulted in the emergence of a gift market that reduces the charitable act to a transaction circumscribed by marketing and social rights viewed as "insolvent" social needs.