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This paper sets out to examine the relationship between trust and professional power in the context of post‐Foucauldian social theory. Understood in its micro‐political terms and conceived as impacting on individual identity and agency at a number of levels: intrapersonal, interpersonal, organisational and macro levels.

This is a conceptual and theoretical approach.

The findings illustrate that the concept of “trust” and relationship to health services can be understood through a post‐Foucauldian lens.

This is a very theoretical paper with implications for epistemological development grounded in understanding “trust” and ethics of self.

This is an original paper on post‐Foucauldian analysis of trust and relationship to health policy and professional autonomy.

Using the distinction between “private problems” and “public issues” derived from Mill's “sociological imagination”, this paper aims to assess how diverse social theory approaches problematise and define the ways in which social life is shaped and organised with regard to “emotions”.

The paper's approach is theoretical and novel in the interpretation of an under‐development theme in social theory, namely, that of emotion.

The paper found, on viewing differing sociological approaches, how emotion shifts the focus of our attention away from the idea of individual, private worlds of emotion to the wider context of social relations and the way in which language is used with power to identify subject positions.

This is a general literature.

This is an original paper as it is the first time diverse sociological theories have been pulled together to evince an understanding of what we understand by the concept, experience and symbol of “emotion”.

This article explores the concept of ‘risk’ that is both an epistemological tool and major facet of “late modernity” (Delanty, 1999). During the 1970s, the use of the notion ’risk’ was mainly confined to ‘natural sciences’, when the concept was used to analyse and improve the ‘security’ of technological systems (Giddens, 1990). According to Delanty (1999) it was not until the 1980s and 1990s that social science based ‘disciplines’ discovered the importance of the topic in relation to changes affecting modern society. In particular, the disciplinary development of Sociology, for example, has discovered ‘risk’ as one of the important aspects of neo‐liberalism and modernity (Beck, 1992; Giddens, 1990; Luhmann, 1993; Delanty, 1999). Sociological conceptions of risk are rapidly changing the role of social science (Delanty, 1999). For example, Delanty (1999) claims that there are studies on epistemology or legitimation of risk knowledge. The conflict between sociologically informed concepts of ‘risk’ and the more traditional, probabilistic calculations of risk represent a contest of competing social philosophies and visions about the future development of human and financial resources, relationship between economic growth and environmental protection, role of government and individuality, and projections and visions about the future it can be argued. A sociologically informed understanding of risk illustrates the interconnectedness of an “ageing population,” social policy and social life. From this perspective, risk is more than a calculation of costs and benefits, it is a theoretical mechanism for weighing different sets of political orientations which impinge on the positioning of individuals and populations.

There exists a significant literature detailing the role of voluntary associations as important actors in mitigating forms of marginalisation under austerity. However, neglected in this literature is the role that such voluntary associations can play in forming and deploying “symbolic power” to fight post-colonial, cultural forms of marginalisation. This is important, especially given conditions where material forms of fighting marginalisation are limited by austerity. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

This paper employs a case study analysis, drawing on data collected during fieldwork and through archival research in France. This methodology allows for the investigation of the multitude of ways by which this association utilises post-colonial symbols to fight marginalisation.

This paper finds that under conditions of austerity, the case study of this association demonstrates three important themes of analysis. First, the association, while not receiving funds outright from municipal authorities, actually is granted privileged access to municipal resources and is given significant personal support from local politicians. This support facilitates the second and third inter-related themes of analysis – namely the abilities to fight marginalisation using history and public culture.

This paper seeks to clarify this role of voluntary associations in the important field of “symbolic power” (Bourdieu, 1990) through the use of cultural and historical symbols from a colonial/post-colonial repertoire in France.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the interaction between schools and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the Israeli and German education systems from the perspective of the stakeholders involved: school principals, the NGOs’ leadership, and regulatory authorities in each country.

The study documents the process by which the interactions between schools and NGOs emerge, the motivations of each of the involved stakeholders, how stakeholders perceive the interaction and the power relations between the involved stakeholders. The study was conducted using the qualitative “grounded theory” methodology, which the authors applied to develop a concept that is anchored in data collected through the research and systematically analyzed.

Using case studies, the authors examine how the relationships between the formal education system and the external entity are formed, reveal the motivations and strategies of the stakeholders involved in the interaction, and investigate the partnerships’ development process in the two different educational systems studied. Findings from the study leading to the conclusion that school-NGO interaction is based on entrepreneurial activities on the part of the school principals and the NGOs, which is gradually becoming institutionalized.

Through this study, the authors have developed a new empirical based theory on the interaction between schools and NGOs as entrepreneurial activity.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the concept of volunteerism in three different case countries, namely, that of USA, UK and China while highlighting the role of the state, society and social capital.

The paper reviews the extant literature on the volunteering traditions in the chosen case study countries highlighting the idiosyncrasies while analysing implications for future research.

The paper highlights the role of the state, society and social capital in the chosen countries, each deriving its origins from the specific traditions in those countries.

This paper provides a conceptual review focusing on the key literature in the field. The authors have examined various academic texts and published materials.

This paper provided an update critically discussion on the concept of volunteerism in three different case countries.

This paper is highly relevant to academics and social policy makers. Moreover, this paper has been written from an international context.

The paper makes an original contribution by comparing and contrasting three important countries with different histories and traditions of volunteerism highlighting diversity of type and application.

This paper provides a reflection about the usefulness of the concept of social entrepreneurship to Portuguese third sector organizations (TSOs) with the purpose of understanding the paths undertaken by the latter. Departing from a theoretical synthesis inspired by different approaches to social entrepreneurship, the purpose of this paper is to offer an operative view of the concept in light of the problematics of social innovation and organizational innovation.

The empirical analysis focuses on the intervention models and management models of these organizations. It uses a sequential methodological approach that combines extensive and intensive analyses.

The author has concluded that Portuguese TSOs show a fragile form of social entrepreneurship. This includes, among others, state dependency both in terms of models of financial management and the definition and regulation of activities, recipients and social intervention. This leads the author to claim, even though cautiously, that management models influence intervention models.

The originality of this paper lies on the use of an analytic framework that offers an eclectic approach to social entrepreneurship. This approach goes beyond some hidden contradictions between Anglo-Saxon schools of thought, namely, the earned income school of thought, and the school of social innovation, as well as the European perspective on social enterprises, and the Latin-American school of solidarity economy. These schools have been reconciled for the purposes of this analysis, which attempts to operationalize the notion of social entrepreneurship in the Portuguese TSOs.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent to which social cooperatives in Italy followed and managed to preserve their core values and principles while withstanding multiple pressures during the great recession. Attention is paid to two key issues. First, the concept of political agency is used to understand whether social cooperatives have been sensitive and committed to their role as key political players in the sustainable development of the community in which they operate. A further issue addressed is the impact of the post-2008 crisis on the quality of work and employment in social cooperatives.

This paper adopts a mixed-method social research approach. It integrates quantitative analysis of administrative data on business life cycle drawn from the Italian business registers with empirical evidence collected via in-depth interviews and focus groups on a sample of managers of social cooperatives and representatives of social cooperative associations and consortia.

Findings suggest that the great recession and welfare state retrenchment have worsened the quality of work and employment. Nonetheless, evidence produced through qualitative research also shows that social cooperatives have proved to be well suited to displaying political agency and acting as a key political player at local level.

Results of field research are not generalizable.

Comparatively higher resilience of cooperatives, which is very much attributable to their specific rationale and mission, may come at a cost. The literature has largely missed investigating this cost, which can also be measured in terms of consistency with core values. Indeed, the sustainability of cooperatives relates to economic indicators, such as employment and economic performance, but also to the social, cultural and political dimension of the enterprise. In this regard, this paper investigates the extent to which, during the post-2008 crisis, cooperative enterprises managed to preserve the quality of work and employment and play a political role in the welfare system.

The context conditions for third sector organizations (TSOs) in Europe have significantly changed as a result of the global economic crisis, including decreasing levels of public funding and changing modes of relations with the state. The effect of economic recession, however, varies across Europe. The purpose of this paper is to understand why this is the case. It analyses the impact of economic recession and related policy changes on third sector development in Europe. The economic effects on TSOs are thereby placed into a broader context of changing third sector policies and welfare state restructuring.

The paper focusses on two research questions: how has the changing policy environment affected the development of the third sector? And what kind of strategies have TSOs adopted to respond to these changes? The paper first investigates general trends in Europe, based on a conceptual model that focusses on economic recession and austerity policies with regard to the third sector. In a second step of analysis, the paper provides five country case studies that exemplify policy changes and responses from the third sector in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain.

The paper argues that three different development paths can be identified across Europe. In some countries (France and Spain), TSOs face a strong effect of economic recession. In other countries (Germany and Poland) the development of the third sector remains largely stable, albeit at different levels, whereas in the Netherlands, TSOs rather experience changes in the policy environment than a direct impact of economic decline. The paper also shows that response strategies of the third sector in Europe depend on the context conditions. The paper is based on the European project “Third Sector Impact.” It combines an analysis of statistical information with qualitative data from interviews with third sector representatives.

The paper contributes to our understanding of the interrelation between economic recession, long-term policy changes and third sector development in Europe.

The purpose of this paper is to examine key factors affecting the economic involvement of women in Bangladesh and women’s involvement with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) particularly in microcredit operating in that country.

The study uses nationally representative data set. Quantitative analysis was utilised to explore data contained in the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Surveys 2007 and 2011.

The findings indicate that age, marital status, number of children living in the household, place of residence, geographical location, education, partner’s education and the wealth index are important factors in enabling women’s involvement in economic activities. In other words, the key findings emerged from the study are first, the low level of women’s economic activities in Bangladesh with a majority involved in farming, agriculture and poultry; second, those women involved in the labour market generally tended to come from poor backgrounds, have very little education, live in the Northwest geographical region and have a large family living in the same house; and finally, age, currently married, having a higher number of children, living in rural areas, from the Northwest region with almost no education and belonging to the poor wealth index quintile are found to be associated more with NGO activities in Bangladesh.

The findings indicate there are potential barriers that are preventing Bangladeshi women from engaging in the labour market that could reinforce the case for reshaping the government’s labour policies. The study reveals that the recent economic crisis has no significant impact on the women labour force participation as well their involvement in NGO activities in Bangladesh. It is generally understood that enhancing women’s economic participation and NGO activities has a positive impact at family, community and country levels. The study concludes that investing in women, particularly in creating employment opportunities including NGO sectors can help the country as a safeguard even during the economic crisis. It is anticipated that the findings will help policy-makers in enhancing female labour force participation as well as encouraging them to engage in NGO activities in Bangladesh.

The research paper is original in terms of conceptual framework, research design and statistical analysis.