Can We Define the Voluntary Sector?

Abstract

This paper examines the lack of clarity associated with the concept of the ‘voluntary sector’ and the repercussions resulting from the sector’s internal heterogeneity. It has been customary to view the voluntary sector as that which is not for profit (private) and not statutory (public). This residual view is, however, unsatisfactory, because it never says what the sector is, as against what it is not. In this chapter it is argued that the voluntary sector cannot be seen just in terms of service provision, but includes distinct (sub)sectors such as informal care, self-help and community activity, and action that has a religious motivation (‘missionary’) as well as organised voluntary service. Voluntary action can in fact move across sectors and much of the purpose of such action is to generate change in other sectors, although it also serves to preserve as well as change. The common element to all voluntary organisations is that they serve as mediators between the individual and the state, both holding society together and lubricating it for social change.