Las motivaciones para la participación voluntaria en comedores comunitarios del Estado de México

Motivations for voluntary participation in community dining rooms in the State of Mexico

Abstract

Objective: The focus of this investigation is to study the motivations of people who participate as volunteers in the community dining rooms of the State of Mexico, and based on solidary actions and cooperation, how social relationships between people involved in community dining rooms are built, as volunteers or dinners is analyzed. Methodology: The study takes place in several community dining rooms in the State of Mexico. Voluntary participation in community dining rooms was studied from the social constructionism perspective. This was considering the categories of volunteer motivation and using qualitative tools such as semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire with open-ended questions with the objective of ascertaining what motivates people who participate voluntarily and as well as the relationships of social solidarity for social construction and reconstruction, from an actor centered perspective. Results: The present work clearly identifies a proactive and pro-social voluntary participation of people who need to feed their family, but, at the same time, this is an act of solidarity and generosity because of the interest in social welfare and feeding of people who need it. Limitations: Motivations compete with the alimentary needs that families have to face and the difficulties of participation without pay in community dining rooms may promote their dependence and increase their vulnerability. Conclusions: An actor-oriented perspective indicates the need to understand the motives of voluntary participation in community dining rooms and how volunteering becomes a part of everyday life of the people involved. Furthermore, this perspective allows analysis of social practice and discourse carried out and interpreted by social actors, therefore enabling the consideration of small-scale social interaction scenarios as a pool of resources and relationship networks.