Abstract
This book is the result of research carried out with the hope of taking the first steps toward discovering and opening society’s eyes to the universe of both formal and informal practices of solidarity in Mexico and the characteristics that define them. This work is the product of a study that the Centro Mexicano para la Filantropía, A.C., (Cemefi, Mexican Center for Philanthropy) decided to encourage in order to understand, explain, make known, and eventually promote the actions undertaken by the citizens of this country in solidarity with others and as volunteers.
In the course of these pages it will be possible to outline some of the main volunteer activity and acts of solidarity practiced by Mexicans. Basic coordinates will be traced to contribute to elucidating where and how they are distributed in the country. Also, the value of the time this voluntary work represents will be covered. It will also be possible to observe the map of regional differences and become acquainted with a diagnosis of different ways in which people collaborate, both horizontally and vertically, in social organizations. The dynamics of voluntary actions of solidarity inside organizations – the privileged place of analysis in order to locate the volunteer – and outside of them will also be examined. It is important to point out that, as we shall see later, there are subjects who practice solidarity with others outside formal spheres and the organizations of civil society, and this activity is also important to recognize and validate within the scope of social investigation. This book is a joint effort, as well as an interdisciplinary effort, in connection with a shared concern: getting to know the many-sided and, until now, little explored trend of volunteers and voluntary actions of solidarity in Mexico. Hence, the purpose of this research is to analyze these activities. Both the subject of study and the unit of analysis of these actions are in and of themselves.
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Notes
- 1.
See the book: Más allá del individualismo: el tercer sector en Perú (Portocarrero et al. 2002, 20–76), which explains the main economic theories about the sector, such as: (1) those referring to the existence of the sector (the theory of public goods, Hansmann’s confidence hypothesis, theories of public choice, theories of industrial organization, the theory of consumer control, business and social offer theories), and (2) those that analyze how the state and the market operate in relation to social organizations (altruistic behavior, the function of ideology, stakeholders). It also presents social theories that have to do with the sector we are concerned with: (1) proposals that attempt to explain, from an overall perspective, how historical and social coordinates influence the nature and dynamics of the sector (the theory of social origins, the third sector of developing countries), and (2) the other theoretical approximations that concentrate on the specific role of some social actors, such as the church and the state (the theory of the welfare state, the theory of interdependence, religion, and the third sector).
- 2.
The main objective of this investigation is to study volunteer actions and acts of solidarity by Mexicans. Formal and informal organizational structures serve as a framework for performing the different roles that individuals play within them. Civil organizations in Mexico have been well studied and are not the subject of this investigation. However, Chapter 5 of this work presents an analysis of the non-profit organizations (NPO) involved in this study in terms of their aims, internal structure, operational mechanisms, funding mechanisms, and the decision-making process on the part of their members.
- 3.
NPO, nonprofit organization. This term will be used from now on as a group reference for this investigation.
- 4.
The first two chapters of this book explain the social and theoretical genesis of social assistance in Mexico, as also the evolution of the ideas of promotion and development, as understood and interpreted from a Latin American, especially, Mexican perspective.
- 5.
This document does not analyze these activities. In this sense, it may be considered that the action arising in this framework was not entirely voluntary, but rather constituted a sort of “pseudo-volunteer work”, because a certain degree of compulsion existed. The wives of public officials preside over these activities in many states through governmental entities or federal institutions. Nevertheless, this category is included in the classification of volunteer activity in Mexico, because, even though this first premise is true, it is also the case that this has been a way that many subjects linked to the government bureaucracy who began within this framework have been introduced to and have continued with these kinds of activities.
- 6.
This law was promoted by several Civil Society Organizations: the Fundación Miguel Alemán (Miguel Alemán Foundation), Convergencia de Organismos Civiles por la Democracia (Convergence of Civil Organizations for Democracy), Foro de Apoyo Mutuo (Mutual Support Forum) and Cemefi, among others.
- 7.
(2002) V Encounter of the International Society for Third Sector Research (istr) in Cape Town, South Africa. There was an attempt to present a brief analysis on the state–civil society relationship in Mexico from the democratic transition until the change of government in the year 2000 in the panel: Civil Society, Citizen Participation and the Dawn of a New Era: the Third Sector in Mexico in Light of a New Political Regime.
- 8.
See Verduzco, List, and Salamon (2001), Perfil del sector no lucrativo en México, for the main findings of the comparative study on the scope, structure, financing, and role of the non-profit sector in Mexico. In the comparative study by John Hopkins University, five parameters were considered to select the organizations that would be used for measuring the sector. These are: private (institutionally separated from the state); organizations (possessing an institutional structure and presence); that do not distribute benefits; are autonomous (essentially controlling their own activities); and have volunteer participation (membership is not legally imposed and they attract a certain level of voluntary contributions of time and money).
- 9.
See Moreno (2005), Nuestros valores. Los mexicanos en México y en Estados Unidos al inicio del siglo XXI . Banamex. Chapter seven contains the author’s conclusions about confidence, social capital, and solidarity, as well as volunteer activity and altruism among Mexicans.
- 10.
- 11.
Medición del servicio voluntario: una guía práctica. Independent Sector y Voluntarios de las Naciones Unidas (2001). This guide classifies them as managed or unmanaged.
- 12.
For more information on this case, see the study: The Size and Scope of the Non-Profit Sector in South Africa, developed by Swilling and Russell (2002). “Informal” groups mainly made up of volunteers represent 53% of the non-profit sector in that country.
- 13.
Report of the Comisión de Desarrollo Social. December, 2000. El papel del Voluntariado en la promoción del desarrollo social in : http://www.iyv.org/iyv_span/policy/unitednations/csd_document/csddocument_htm/csd_document_span.htm
- 14.
Salamon et al. (1999). Nuevo estudio del sector emergente: resumen. This comparative study of 22 countries, including Mexico, presents some facets of voluntary individual participation. These authors argue that the size of the non-profit sector is a good indicator of the number of formal volunteers in existence. In another related article, Volunteering in Cross-National Perspective: Evidence from Twenty-four Countries (2003), by Salamon and Sokolowski, the findings reveal that in countries where the government spends more on social services for its citizens, there are also a greater number of volunteers. The authors explain that volunteer actions are concentrated in two areas of activity: the area of service to others –which is the Mexican case – and the expressive area – which includes cultural, recreational, and lobbying activities. This international study indicated that volunteer actions and acts of solidarity like those included in this investigation need to be studied deeply to better understand the non-profit sector.
- 15.
See Butcher (1999). “La solidaridad organizada: el voluntariado social como agente de cambio social en México”, in Sociedad Civil, for an analysis of this definition and for a description of volunteer action in Mexico both inside and outside formal organizational structures.
- 16.
www.risolidaria.org.ar. Fascículo del Tercer Sector 04. “Todo lo que usted necesita saber sobre Voluntariado”, Tercer Sector (2004).
- 17.
In fact, the term “solidarity” has it origin in Roman law, where it was used to describe a type of legal situation in which individual subjects bound themselves as if they were a single subject, and therefore this type of obligation was called obligatio in solidum.
- 18.
See Valenzuela’s text (2003), La noción de solidaridad, which undertakes a broad exploration of ideas and of the term “solidarity”. In this theoretical-conceptual essay, the main theoreticians of the subject of solidarity are mentioned: Aristotle, Smith, Locke, Hume, Kant, Durkheim, de Tocqueville, Scheler, Rorty, Habermas, and Luhman, as well as mentioning the connotation it has in the current psycho-social trends of Eisenberg and Bandura, and the basis of Freud’s psychoanalysis, also going into Kohlberg’s y Piaget’s moral training of individuals. It also includes an extensive bibliographical review of the use of the concept of solidarity over time, identifying the meanings and shades of meaning with which it has been used and presenting, by way of empirical evidence, some practical acceptations of the notion of solidarity expressed more or less explicitly in the Solidarity movement and other contemporary scientific theories.
- 19.
To delve more deeply into the concept of social capital, see Robert Putnam (2000), Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community, which emphasizes networks of reciprocity based on confidence and mutual aid, and explains that there are two kinds of linkages in the formation of these networks. The first occurs among individuals who are similar, with mutual and common interests, which is called bonding social capital, and refers to a close bond between equals. The second is called bridging social capital, and involves a bridge or connection between different and distinct people that goes beyond an intimate relation between peers. Putnam and Fieldstein’s work (2003), Better Together: Restoring the American Community, should also be consulted, which establishes that the expression of bridging social capital is indispensable for the development of tolerance and openness in the construction of democratic societies. Both forms of relationship are considered by these authors as key to achieving active and inclusive participation in a democracy.
- 20.
www.risolidaria.org.ar. Fascículos del Tercer Sector 04. “Todo lo que usted necesita saber sobre Voluntariado”, Tercer Sector (2004).
- 21.
As expressed in an article in the Argentinean newspaper La Nación, of April 21, 2000: “What elements does man have, at this point of transition from one millennium to another, to confront these evils, to contribute to the path toward a less unjust and more balanced society? He has, of course, his conscience and the values that illuminate it. Among these values, one of the most important is solidarity, understood as a generous force that moves human beings to do their utmost, unselfishly, to help their fellow man. Only to the degree to which people with more resources get organized to provide help and solidarity to the most unprotected sectors of the population will it be possible to advance toward a civilization less chastened by inequities and injustices.”
- 22.
For the ensav, 2005, the following documents, among others, were used for reference: La medición del servicio voluntario: una guía práctica (Independent Sector y Voluntarios de las Naciones Unidas, 2001), Encuesta Nacional de Donaciones y Trabajo Voluntario 2002 (Portocarrero et al.), Estudio sobre Trabajo Voluntario (Gallup 2000, Argentina), the survey Giving and Volunteering in the United States, (Independent Sector, 1996) and the survey Giving and Volunteering USA (Independent Sector, 2001), the book The Size and Scope of the Non-profit Sector in South Africa (Swilling and Russell, 2002), Encuesta Nacional sobre el Uso del Tiempo (2002, México), and Encuesta de Acciones Voluntarias del Manual de Cuentas Nacionales de Instituciones sin Fines de Lucro (Universidad de John Hopkins, February, 2005, USA).
- 23.
Arredondo (1997) in “Naturaleza, desarrollo y tipología de la sociedad civil organizada” in Sociedad Civil, no. 1, vol. II, pp 164–184, offers a classification of civil organizations. A typology of civil associations by Alberto Olvera appears in: “Representaciones e ideologías de los organismos civiles en México: crítica de la selectividad y rescate del sentido de la idea de sociedad civil”, pp 31–37, in Cadena Roa, J. (2004) (Coordinador) Las organizaciones civiles mexicanas hoy, which presents different forms of civil association in Mexico; the same author comments on the difficulties of covering the entire gamut of possible combinations of citizen associative activities. The typology in our study covers 12 spheres of action which were selected because of being considered as having the greatest volunteer work content.
- 24.
Salamon and Anheier (1999), Nuevo estudio del sector emergente: Resumen, p. 3, Baltimore: Universidad de John Hopkins, Instituto de Estudios Políticos, Centro de Estudios sobre Sociedad Civil.
- 25.
The ISIC and, hence, the ICNPO, classify organizations according to their main economic activity, i.e., the one that consumes the largest part of their operational expenses. So if an organization carries out activities in more than one area, it will be classified based on the area with the greatest operational expenditures. This is particularly important in the case of Mexico, since there are many organizations that work simultaneously in several areas or in areas of activity that are not easily identifiable.
- 26.
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Butcher, J. (2010). Conceptual Framework for Volunteer Action and Acts of Solidarity. In: Butcher, J. (eds) Mexican Solidarity. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1078-3_1
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