Teoria e pesquisa em voluntariado: cinco principais perspectivas na administração

Abstract

Traditionally, volunteering has been studied, mainly, as a social process, which includes psychosocial, socioeconomic, motivational, identity, and socialization aspects. However, a gap remains regarding the theoretical assumptions that guide the production of knowledge about volunteering. Because it is a cross-cutting issue, related to different areas of knowledge, the phenomenon can be observed in a variety of expressions. In the field of administration, for example, there is a variety of terms used by organizations and individuals to determine their decision to engage with social issues. Given this, we ask: what theoretical assumptions can be pointed out for research and theory in volunteering in applied social sciences, especially in administration? The general objective is to provide demarcations and approaches that were supported in academic production on the subject. Through a qualitative and exploratory approach, a bibliographic survey was carried out with the specific objective of mapping and knowing what is being published about volunteering, both in national and international literature, in the period from 2000 to 2019. As a result, volunteer production can be divided into five approaches, they are Functional approach to motivate volunteering, in which the reasons for such action are discussed; Management approach to volunteering, which recognizes the volunteer as an organizational resource to be managed; Marketing approach to volunteering, composed of social actions and programs originating in the private sphere; Approach to the representation of volunteering, concerned with knowing the meaning of this practice; and The new volunteering, marked by the structural context of capitalism. The relevance of this research is to contextualize research in volunteering, providing approaches that were sustained in academic production on the topic.