Understanding the Changing Landscape of Volunteering and Volunteers in Italy through the Lens of Symbolic Interactionism

The paper highlights the problematic change and decline of volunteering in Italy. The Authors endeavor to develop an in depth understanding of the current transformation of Third Sector, by drawing upon the conceptual heritage of symbolic interactionism, particularly in respect to how the meanings that citizens attribute to voluntary activities are changing, and the role that the latter play in the identity construction of volunteer actors. They develop an approach that pays careful attention to how dynamic negotiations between different actors in everyday interactions shapes volunteering. They highlight how one’s commitment to volunteering is a social construction that researchers can understand only if they include volunteers’ perspectives and focus on how volunteering is related to how they define their “selves.” This approach can also explain why some prefer a “fluid,” “personal,” and “do it yourself” volunteering role over one that is associated with a non-formal organization.