Discourses of Volunteerism

Ganesh, Shiv; McAllum, Kirstie

doi:10.1080/23808985.2009.11679091

Cited by 19 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…The near absence of discussions of a volunteer identity and of UCC participation as volunteering is revealing for research on theorized volunteer identities (e.g., Ganesh & McAllum, 2009). The near absence of discussions of a volunteer identity and of UCC participation as volunteering is revealing for research on theorized volunteer identities (e.g., Ganesh & McAllum, 2009).…”

Section: Theoretical Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It may also be that what has been discussed elsewhere as a volunteer identity (Cruz, 2009;Ganesh & McAllum, 2009) could be promoted in organizations that engage in activities more typically described by laypersons as volunteering. For example, for activist organizations, a likely higher order identity is their social justice cause that is larger than the organization itself.…”

Section: Practical Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some scholarship has even begun talking about a potential volunteer identity (e.g., Ganesh & McAllum, 2009). Some scholarship has even begun talking about a potential volunteer identity (e.g., Ganesh & McAllum, 2009).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Exploring Nested Identities

Meisenbach

Kramer

2014

Management Communication Quarterly

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Although scholars theorize that identities are layered or nested within one another, little is understood about whether, how, and what layers are expressed by individuals. Such understanding could offer insight into organizational membership decisions, particularly within voluntary organizations where financial incentives are not involved. This study used semi-structured interviews to explore how individuals articulate identities and identification sources when discussing their desire to join and continue participation in a community choir, a voluntary leisure organization. The findings highlight how specific individual activities and higher order nested family and music identities, in addition to the more traditional organizational identifications, all play into membership decisions. The results also suggest that identity researchers and voluntary organization managers may benefit from focusing more attention on (a) higher order and cross-cutting social category identities, (b) individual activities in the organizations, and (c) the isomorphism among different layers of identity and identification.

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Section: Theoretical Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Practical Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Exploring Nested Identities

Meisenbach

Kramer

2014

Management Communication Quarterly

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“…Wilson & Musick, 1997;Sundeen et al, 2009;Eagly, 2009;Brand, 2010;Einolf, 2010;Lee & Brudney, 2010;Taniguchi, 2012). But in general terms, these studies are based on large-scale survey data and focus on quantitative variables, rather mechanically linking volunteering to these, although there is a growing qualitative literature (see Ganesh & McAllum, 2009) which takes as its concern the meaning rather than the frequency of volunteering.…”

Section: Choice and Beyondmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond choice: ‘Thick’ volunteering and the case of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution

O’Toole

Grey

2015

Human Relations

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This article problematizes the dominant assumption in the literature on volunteer work that it is undertaken primarily as a matter of individual choice. Using findings from a qualitative study of volunteers at the not-for-profit organization, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, it is shown that volunteering exists within a dense web of social relations, especially familial and communal relations, so that volunteering is recursively constituted by structure and agency. The concept of ‘thick volunteering’ is developed to denote how in some cases these social relations, especially when the work involved is dangerous, may make volunteering especially significant.

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“…discourses that feed into the promotional work of these powerful institutions and foster their efforts (Ganesh & Mcallum, 2009). In this nexus of public policy aspirations and the production of relevant knowledge, a wide range of possible definitions to "volunteering" is constructed (Cnaan & Amrofell, 1994;Cnaan, Handy, & Wadsworth, 1996), which consequently lead to a fluctuating quantitative characterization of the phenomenon (as demonstrated by Chambr e, 1989).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Opening Up the “Black Box” of “Volunteering”: On Hybridization and Purification in Volunteering Research and Promotion

Shachar

Essen

Hustinx

2019

Administrative Theory & Praxis

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The scholarly exploration of "volunteering" has mainly focused on identifying its antecedents or consequences, in order to facilitate the management and promotion of volunteering. In this dominant stream of research, the phenomenon of volunteering thus remains a "black box"-a takenfor-granted and fixed reality. The article sets out to open the black box of "volunteering" by not accepting it as a fixed, unproblematic object, but by exploring volunteering as a constructed phenomenon whose boundaries are managed and utilized by a variety of actors. To deconstruct volunteering, the article utilizes the Latourian notions of "hybridization" and "purification" as simultaneous and entangled mechanisms. We critically review the literature on "volunteering" and problematize the fundamental properties of the "pure" perception of "volunteering," their hybridization and eventual purification. The article concludes by highlighting how the constant tension between hybridization and purification mechanisms is in fact what makes volunteering proliferate as a phenomenon that has an increasing public significance in contemporary society. During the last three decades, there has been a burgeoning public interest in "volunteering". This interest is regularly expressed by state agencies and international bodies, corporations, and influential nonprofits, which often represent and promote volunteering as a highly glorified route for participating in civic life and contributing to the public good. An adjacent proliferating terrain is the growing scholarly work on volunteering, which often produces

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Discourses of Volunteerism

Cited by 19 publications

References 17 publications

Exploring Nested Identities

Exploring Nested Identities

Beyond choice: ‘Thick’ volunteering and the case of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution

Opening Up the “Black Box” of “Volunteering”: On Hybridization and Purification in Volunteering Research and Promotion

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