Voluntary Action in the 21st Century

Abstract

We began this book by arguing that the way in which volunteering is commonly understood and discussed by practitioners, policy-makers and researchers – what we call the ‘dominant paradigm’ – is so narrow and inadequate as to resemble a ‘flat-earth map’ on which much of the terrain is ‘dark matter’. From this perspective, volunteering is seen essentially as an activity which is motivated by altruism – the desire to help others less fortunate than oneself; which takes place in the broad area of social welfare – for the benefit of people ‘ in need’; which is organised by large, professionally staffed and formally structured organisations for which volunteers represent an additional resource; and which involves selection, induction and, possibly, training for specific and pre-determined roles or functions.