Breaking the Iron Cage: Understanding Legitimacy Claims for State-Sponsored International Voluntary Services
摘要
The chapter steps back from the operational features of state-supported international voluntary services (SSIVS) to explore challenges to their legitimacy that can arise from sometimes competing demands to achieve both domestic and international impacts. It draws upon institutional legitimacy theory to explain pressures that international development volunteer programs, and in particular SSIVS programs like JOCV, may experience to conform with powerful institutional fields circumscribed within the development sector. It also proposes a model outlining alternative strategic responses to reconcile these competing demands. We conclude by suggesting that a strategic ‘sweet spot’ for programs like JOCV may hinge on their ability to capitalize on the mutuality inherent in the distinctive value proposition of development volunteering.