It is also conceivable that the relationship between voluntary work and gainful employment may be conflictual, at least at times, whether because time commitments cannot be mutually agreed upon or even that ideological rifts might emerge, for example, if an employee in the chemical industry also volunteered for Greenpeace. It is conceivable that volunteer work is to be understood in a recompensatory way to gainful employment: Some people are so satisfied with and grateful for their work (and their lives) that they want to give something back to society through voluntary work. The function can also be instrumental: Voluntary work might also serve gainful employment, e.g., if biographically or professionally relevant qualifications and skills are to be acquired through voluntary work. Is volunteer work complementary or even compensatory to gainful employment? Voluntary work would then offer room for motives and fulfillment of meaning that might not be provided by gainful employment. Is volunteer work neutral and only secondary to gainful employment? The area of volunteer work then defines a parallel world to gainful employment and is to be understood similarly to the area of value-oriented religious practice or many balance-oriented hobbies. We assume that voluntary work says something not only about individual helping behavior in the respective civil society within which it takes place, but-because of the aspect of work-is also closely related to the respective constitution of the national system of gainful employment. Otherwise, we will also refer to them as “voluntary work” or “volunteering.” However, volunteering is not the same as lay work: Many experts and professionals also undertake voluntary work within their field of expertise moreover, volunteers can develop expertise for their work (cf. We will use the reference definition in those places where we want to emphasize the special characteristics of voluntary work. The term “non-profit” is used analogously to non-profit organizations and foundations to emphasize the contribution to the common good. Meaningful activity: Voluntary work is a meaningful activity, whereby the question must be asked: What are the underlying motives? What can we learn, from volunteer work, for work in general and for the system of gainful employment in particular? A central question here is: How can this type of service and its added value-e.g., as social capital-be grasped without merely thinking about monetarization? Non-profit status: Volunteer work constitutes a not-for-profit system that adds value to society. From this follows: The coordination of volunteer work with gainful employment is not trivial this coordination cannot be based solely on the logic of volunteer work. Voluntariness: The activity is free, autonomous, independent. This definition refers to three essential characteristics of volunteer work, which should also be taken into account by research: Volunteer work refers to non-profit activity including unpaid, self-organized or institutionally organized, socially oriented work this means a personal, non-profit commitment that is connected with a regular, project- or event-related expenditure of time, which could in principle also be carried out by another person and could potentially also be paid for.
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