The Obligation to Volunteer as Fair Reciprocity? Welfare Recipients’ Perceptions of Giving Back to Society

Abstract

Dutch citizens on welfare have to volunteer at Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in return for their benefits. Through applying the 'worlds of justification' of Boltanski and Thévenot, this article aims to provide a better theoretical and empirical understanding of social justice of policies that obligate welfare clients to participate in CSOs. The analysis of 51 in-depth interviews with Dutch welfare recipients shows that respondents perceive these policies partly but not unilaterally as unfair. If respondents perceive welfare as 'free money' and if they are convinced that civic behavior demands interventions against free riding on welfare resources, 'mandatory volunteering' is considered as fair. Our main contribution is to the theoretical debate on recognition and redistribution by showing empirically how 'othering' plays an important role in determining when mandatory volunteering becomes a matter of redistribution or recognition.

You Shall (Not) Pass: Strategies for Third-Party Gatekeepers to Enhance Volunteer Inclusion

“…The third strategy for enhanced inclusion, enforcing, is however a contested one. Like Bridges Karr (2007) and Kampen et al (2019), our data show that obligatory forms of volunteering can introduce new individuals to volunteering. Similar to Eliasoph (2009Eliasoph ( , 2011 and Lichterman (2006) our respondents do question whether this form of volunteering is effective, as volunteering without intrinsic motivation could be seen as not pure.…”

“…For instance, Roza (2016) finds that corporate volunteering motivates employees who otherwise do not volunteer. Kampen et al (2019) examine volunteer programs wherein individuals are obligated to volunteer to receive welfare payments. These programs incite volunteer service from former or non-volunteers.…”

A Place to Go: How Neighborhood Organizations Structure the Lives of the Urban Poor and Negotiate Social Policy

“…Recipients who are already doing voluntary work are also re-evaluated to ascertain their ability to perform paid work. Thus, whereas the pressure on social assistance recipients to 'give back' is increasing, neighborhood organizations are facing increased demands from the municipality to facilitate this group (Kampen et al, 2019).…”

“…The consequences of these trends can be observed in policies at the local level in Rotterdam. Conditions for receiving social assistance have become stricter and recipients are nowadays obliged to 'do something useful in return' for society (Fenger & Broekema, 2019;Kampen et al, 2019;Veldboer et al, 2015;cf. Mead, 1986).…”

Enterprise discourses in Dutch urban policies; a comparison between two cities in the Netherlands

“…Rotterdam was one of the first cities in the Netherlands that obliged welfare recipients to do voluntary work in return for their welfare benefits (Kampen, Veldboer, and Kleinhans 2019). This has led to much discussion and initial disapproval from society.…”