Volunteering practices in the Twenty-First Century (2020)

08/10/2020

Date of Publication: June 2020

Author: Chris Millora, UNESCO Chair in Adult Literacy and Learning for Social Transformation

Published by: UN Volunteers

In 1999, the UN Volunteers programme published a background paper “Volunteering and Social Development” proposing the following typology:

  1. Mutual aid/self-help (“by us, for us”),
  2. Philanthropy and service to others,
  3. Civic participation, and
  4. Advocacy and campaigning

This paper described how volunteering has changed over the years. They found that:

  • Volunteering practices are changing in response to wider social patterns and challenges eg the climate emergency, technological advances, migration, the changing nature of work, humanitarian crises, and inequalities,
  • The increasing individualism in decision-making as to where, how, and why individuals volunteer. Personal benefits for the volunteer (eg improved employment, well-being, and mental health) are valued alongside more altruistic motivations and a sense of obligation. There is a greater interest in short-term and episodic volunteering,
  • The dominant understanding of volunteering—which is often presented as “universal”—has been framed by the experiences of the global North, and
  • A common theme was a relational aspect of volunteering - not determined by the lack of services but how they are delivered.

The paper proposed extensions within the four categories described above as well as including an additional fifth type of volunteering practice - volunteering as “expressive behaviours” or “volunteering as leisure”. This would cover volunteering motivated by a personal interest in activities such as concerts, arts, sports events, and tourism. This includes the wealth of volunteer activities primarily conducted by individuals to obtain human, social, an cultural capital. These five proposed types are not mutually exclusive and can be overlapping.

Volunteering as a complex activity that cuts across a range of practices, benefits, and motivations. Volunteering is relevant throughout people’s lives and people may take part in multiple aspects at different times. Volunteering is both a means and an end to achieving, challenging, disrupting, and even shaping development outcomes.

The full report is available here.