Abstract

SERNA, María Guadalupe. Diversity and the changing context volunteering in Mexico. Espiral (Guadalaj.) [online]. 2010, vol.16, n.47, pp.141-172. ISSN 1665-0565.

This article lays emphasis on an issue that has been analyzed very little in Mexico, the different forms that organized volunteering has adopted and the diversity of actions carried out by these groups which are largely made up of women. In an attempt to explain what has happened in connection with this issue, this paper analyzes the different contexts in which the actions of volunteering have been generated and how they have printed on the popular belief an image of feminine charity to which the State contributed in the 20th Century, marginalizing other organized activities and actions. I propose that this diversity and specificity of the Mexican volunteering movement is embedded in specific cultural forms and they are particularly contrasting with the vision and acting that the Anglo-Saxon society has of these groups. On the light of the concept of volunteering, the different forms of expression that it has had since the 19th Century up to the present are analyzed.

Keywords : Volunteering; social organizations; feminine roles; compromise; charity.

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