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Conference Paper/Proceeding/Abstract 109 views

A polarisation between localism and scale: Voluntary sector service provision

Leanne Greening

British Sociological Association

Swansea University Author: Leanne Greening

Abstract

The Voluntary Sector (VS) has a pivotal role to play in helping to build global equality and justice. The diverse range of organisations that comprise the sector predominantly exist to address social issuesfacing communities, societies and publics. Services provided are vast and, in many cases, volu...

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Published in: British Sociological Association
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa68762
first_indexed 2025-01-30T11:18:01Z
last_indexed 2025-03-04T05:37:53Z
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spelling 2025-03-03T12:41:07.8272575 v2 68762 2025-01-30 A polarisation between localism and scale: Voluntary sector service provision f464397c7ade3fc61192336aa8c1d7ca Leanne Greening Leanne Greening true false 2025-01-30 CBAE The Voluntary Sector (VS) has a pivotal role to play in helping to build global equality and justice. The diverse range of organisations that comprise the sector predominantly exist to address social issuesfacing communities, societies and publics. Services provided are vast and, in many cases, voluntary work, just like paid work, can be highly stressful and challenging. One such example is that of ‘crisisvolunteers’ who deliver services through crisis hotlines (Aguirre and Bolton 2013). Voluntary Organisations (VOs) exist, and have done for decades, in a perpetual state of uncertainty and instability due to staggeringly low levels of funding and the changing political landscape. In particular, political ideologies have tried to reduce the direct role of the state in the provision of public services and transfer theresponsibility to non-state actors, thereby facilitating widespread VS involvement (Jessop 2002). In their attempts to secure funding (and survive), many organisations are forced to alter their behaviours, capacities and identities as a way of enhancing their competitive appeal (Cunningham 2016). In doing so, they fortuitously wind up mimicking the approach of professional, state-funded services; a model that has not been designed for VS service provision. Reflecting on 40 semi-structured interviews with volunteers, this paper reveals a series of tensions and contradictions that arise in the social order of these organisations. It posits that the blurring distinction between voluntary and statutory services threatens the commitment and retention of volunteers who are often left disenfranchised, displaced and disempowered. Conference Paper/Proceeding/Abstract British Sociological Association 0 0 0 0001-01-01 Theme: Building Equality and Justice NowLocation: Virtual COLLEGE NANME Management School COLLEGE CODE CBAE Swansea University 2025-03-03T12:41:07.8272575 2025-01-30T11:16:44.7165697 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences School of Management - Human Resource Management Leanne Greening 1
title A polarisation between localism and scale: Voluntary sector service provision
spellingShingle A polarisation between localism and scale: Voluntary sector service provision
Leanne Greening
title_short A polarisation between localism and scale: Voluntary sector service provision
title_full A polarisation between localism and scale: Voluntary sector service provision
title_fullStr A polarisation between localism and scale: Voluntary sector service provision
title_full_unstemmed A polarisation between localism and scale: Voluntary sector service provision
title_sort A polarisation between localism and scale: Voluntary sector service provision
author_id_str_mv f464397c7ade3fc61192336aa8c1d7ca
author_id_fullname_str_mv f464397c7ade3fc61192336aa8c1d7ca_***_Leanne Greening
author Leanne Greening
author2 Leanne Greening
format Conference Paper/Proceeding/Abstract
container_title British Sociological Association
institution Swansea University
college_str Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
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hierarchy_top_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
department_str School of Management - Human Resource Management{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Management - Human Resource Management
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description The Voluntary Sector (VS) has a pivotal role to play in helping to build global equality and justice. The diverse range of organisations that comprise the sector predominantly exist to address social issuesfacing communities, societies and publics. Services provided are vast and, in many cases, voluntary work, just like paid work, can be highly stressful and challenging. One such example is that of ‘crisisvolunteers’ who deliver services through crisis hotlines (Aguirre and Bolton 2013). Voluntary Organisations (VOs) exist, and have done for decades, in a perpetual state of uncertainty and instability due to staggeringly low levels of funding and the changing political landscape. In particular, political ideologies have tried to reduce the direct role of the state in the provision of public services and transfer theresponsibility to non-state actors, thereby facilitating widespread VS involvement (Jessop 2002). In their attempts to secure funding (and survive), many organisations are forced to alter their behaviours, capacities and identities as a way of enhancing their competitive appeal (Cunningham 2016). In doing so, they fortuitously wind up mimicking the approach of professional, state-funded services; a model that has not been designed for VS service provision. Reflecting on 40 semi-structured interviews with volunteers, this paper reveals a series of tensions and contradictions that arise in the social order of these organisations. It posits that the blurring distinction between voluntary and statutory services threatens the commitment and retention of volunteers who are often left disenfranchised, displaced and disempowered.
published_date 0001-01-01T14:03:59Z
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