About the Author

The editors of this volume are members of the committee of the Voluntary Action History Society which was formed in 1991 to promote the historical understanding of voluntary organisations and charitable activity among both practitioners and academics. A registered charity since 1995, VAHS organises monthly seminars at the Institute of Historical Research in London as well as international conferences on a biennial basis.

Reviews

"Ever since the Heath Government established the Voluntary Services Unit in the early 1970s, official recognition of the social contribution of voluntarism has been developing. The contribution itself, of course, goes back much further, and long predates the welfare state. But the prominence of the voluntary sector within politician's plans to reshape Britain - the Big Society being but the latest example - has now reached such a point where an appreciation of the sector's long history is crucial to a rounded understanding of contemporary policy. Understanding the Roots of Voluntary Action is an attempt to meet this need. ... The volume had its origins in the Voluntary Action History Society's 2008 Liverpool conference, and is structured around four themes, all of which will be familiar to students of the sector: the 'moving frontier' between the state and voluntary sectors; the motivations for voluntary endeavour; organisational growing pains; and the classic historical focus on continuity and change. Within this framework, there are some superb chapters. Steven Thompson, for example, uses the multi-faceted history of voluntarism in the South Wales coalfield to demonstrate that 'different and even contested conceptions of the role and significance of voluntarism were articulated by different sections of coalfield society' (82). Particularly, the ideological battle within voluntarism, between worker mutualism and employee philanthropy, created a dynamic that pushed sections of the left towards enthusiasm for state provision (91)." --James McKay, University of Birmingham