Volunteering and Society in the 21st Century

by Rochester, Colin; Ellis Paine, Angela; Howlett, Steven; Zimmeck, Meta

• ISBN13: 9780230367722
• ISBN10: 0230367720
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-05-15
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

While volunteering has played a prominent role in most societies throughout history, the current weight of expectation about the contribution it can make to individual development, social cohesion and addressing social need has never been greater at the global, European and national level. Volunteering and Society in the 21st Century, now in paperback and with a major new Foreword exploring the impact of the UK government's 'Big Society' agenda on volunteering, has been designed to meet this unprecedented interest. While the main focus is on volunteering in the UK, the book is informed by and, in turn, contributes to international perspectives on voluntary action. It provides an overview of the concepts and theories which explain the nature of volunteering; reviews the data on who volunteers and for what; examines key organizational issues for volunteer managers; and discusses the enduring challenges which volunteering continues to face in the 21st century the need to change its image; the push for an inclusive approach; the danger of formalization; and the threat to its independence.

Author Biography

COLIN ROCHESTER Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Social Policy and Education at Birkbeck College, University of London, UK. He has previously held posts at Roehampton University and the London School of Economics. He has co-edited three books: An Introduction to the Voluntary Sector (with Justin Davis Smith and Rodney Hedley); Voluntary Organisations and Social Policy: Perspectives on Change and Choice (with Margaret Harris); and Understanding the Roots of Voluntary Action (with George Campbell Gosling, Alison Penn and Meta Zimmeck).
ANGELA ELLIS PAINE Research Fellow at the ESRC Third Sector Research Centre (TSRC) at the University of Birmingham, UK. Prior to joining TSRC, Angela was Director of the Institute for Volunteering Research, where she spent ten years undertaking numerous research projects into different aspects of volunteering. Angela has authored several reports and book chapters, including co-authoring Helping Out: A National Survey of Volunteering and Charitable Giving (with Natalie Low, Sarah Butt and Justin Davis Smith).
STEVEN HOWLETT Senior Lecturer in the Business School at the University of Roehampton, UK, where he teaches on the business management course and convenes the Masters in Human Rights Practice. He was previously Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Volunteering Research and researcher at the Centre for Institutional Studies at the University of East London, UK. He co-edited Volunteers in Hospice and Palliative Care: A Resource for Voluntary Service Managers (with Ros Scott and Derek Doyle).
META ZIMMECK Partner in the Practical Wisdom R2Z Research Consultancy and the principal author of Use it or Lose it - a summative evaluation of the Compact between the Government and the Voluntary and Community Sector. She is also co-editor of Understanding the Roots of Voluntary Action (with Colin Rochester, George Campbell Gosling and Alison Penn). She was head of the Voluntary and Community Research Section in the Home Office for six years and was responsible for a complex portfolio of research and evaluation.

Table of Contents

'Volunteering and Society in the 21st Century by Colin Rochester, Angela Ellis Paine, and Steven Howlett, with Meta Zimmeck, provides a comprehensive and coherent overview of the multiple dimensions of volunteering that will be very useful for students, practitioners, policy-makers or anyone seeking an in-depth understanding of the current perspectives, definitions, challenges, and future prospects of this important activity.' - Lester M. Salamon, Founding Director of the Principal Research Center for Civil Society Studies Institute for Policy Studies, The Johns Hopkins University

'This book is simply the best recent overview of volunteering, whether in the UK or elsewhere. Its thoughtful analysis and summaries of research cover all the important aspects in a readable manner. The book will be ideal for university courses on volunteering or on the Voluntary Nonprofit Sector more broadly. Academics and researchers will also find it valuable for its depth and scope.' - David Horton Smith, Emeritus and Research Professor, Boston College, and Founder of the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA)

'This is a super book and we'd recommend that it should be on the Christmas list for volunteer managers and anyone with a keen interest in volunteering!' - Volunteering Magazine

'This book provides a rich resource...equipping its readers to engage with the growing field of volunteering research while firmly maintaining a community perspective.'- The Association for Research in the Voluntary and Community Sector Bulletin

'This up-to-date, comprehensive, attractively and accessibly written book reviews volunteering as a global as well as a national phenomenon...The style of writing is well suited to the widest readership, from practitioners to policymakers and academics...The book is illuminated with nuggets and insights'. - The Geographical Journal

'...interesting, well organized and well written.'- Voluntas

'...such is the breadth and depth of this book that it can claim to be the most comprehensive contemporary review of volunteering produced...this excellent book succeeds in its aim of appealing to academics, practitioners and policy makers alike. It is authoratitive, comprehensive and thorough, exploring in a logical manner the wide range of factors which influence volunteering in the United Kingdom and beyond, and which will continue to influence it in the 21st century. It is an essential reference source for anyone studying, working in or working on issues of volunteering.' - Voluntary Sector Review