Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: The paper aims to verify whether volunteering and environmentalism are two phenomena that overlap both conceptually and empirically. The actions for the protection and enhancement of rivers in Italy are taken as a testing ground. Two packages of literature are used to understand the overlap between volunteering and environmentalism, one on neo-institutionalism and the other on new social movements. The starting framework is a general typology of voluntary organisations, which is then adapted to the environmental movement. The hypothesis of growing disintermediation and light commitment by the new generations of volunteers finds original answers in river volunteering. Alongside classic environmentalist militancy, forms of popular action in favour of rivers are emerging that show detachment from politics and attraction to intrinsic benefits, such as the pleasure of recreation and collective memory recovery. This raises new questions about the role of organised civil society in maintaining democracy and helping the ecological transition.
Source: Discover Water
Author: Giorgio Osti
Institution: University of Padua
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,490
Funder: Università degli Studi di Padova
OpenAlex ID: W4404105573