Abstract
Considerable policy emphasis has been given in the UK to the contribution that voluntary action could make to tackling socioeconomic problems, including those of concentrated disadvantage. With a degree of consensus that some sort of “levelling up” of social conditions is required, this raises questions about the extent of spatial variations in voluntary action, their persistence, their causes, and the likelihood of being able to change them. Accordingly, this seminar will examine:
- existing evidence on spatial variations in volunteering, which establishes both their strength and persistence and a clear association between patterns of volunteering and patterns of prosperity.
- explanations for these variations, including arguments that different sorts of community are characterised by different patterns of volunteering and the extent to which variations are a matter of composition or context. The message is that composition matters most, not context; community-level variations are largely a function of the mix of individuals in a community.
- the nature of policy responses aimed at reducing community-level variations in volunteering or raising participation in particular types of place. However, policy initiatives have not been sustained nor have the resources committed been large, so results are very limited.
The seminar asks what contribution can reasonably be expected of voluntary action in relation to the levelling up of profound disparities in the fortunes of places? As William Beveridge recognised in his landmark study of voluntary action (1948), the “spirit of service bloweth where it will”, implying that it is difficult to mobilise and direct. That challenge will continue to hamper efforts to mobilise voluntary action for community renewal.
Biography
John Mohan is Emeritus Professor of Social Policy at the University of Birmingham. He is the author of Volunteering in the United Kingdom: the spirit of service (Manchester University Press, 2024), (with Rose Lindsey) Continuity and change in voluntary action (Policy Press, 2018), (with Beth Breeze) The logic of charity (Palgrave, 2016) and numerous contemporary and historical studies of voluntary action, some with a particular emphasis on spatial variations in participation and social capital (e.g. Social Capital, Place and Health (Health education authority, London, 2004).
