Abstract
This article examines how individuals are reflexive beings who interpret the world in relation to things that matter to them, and how charitable acts are evaluated and embedded in their lives with different degrees of meaning and importance. Rather than framing the discussion of charitable practices in terms of an altruism/egoism binary or imputing motivations and values to social structures, the article explains how reflexivity is an important and neglected dimension of social practices, and how it interacts with sympathy, sentiments and discourses to shape giving. The study also shows that there are different modes of reflexivity, which have varied effects on charity and volunteering.
Highlights
Résumé L’article examine en quoi les individus sont des êtres humains réflexifs qui interprètent le monde en relation aux choses qu’ils jugent importantes, et comment les pratiques de la charité sont évaluées et imbriquées dans leurs vies à des degrés divers de signification et d’importance
How does personal reflexivity mediate between structure and agency in shaping charitable giving? Individuals are reflexive beings, who interpret the world in relation to things that matter to them, deliberating and prioritizing elements of their life that are of key concern, such as physical well-being, practical worldly achievements, family happiness, emotional relationships, social self-esteem, political and moral values, and faith (Archer, 2012: 102–111; Taylor 1989: 62–63)
As one of the aims of the research was to delineate a new mechanism of reflexivity that operates in social life, the sample was skewed towards donors and volunteers who possibly have reflected on giving more than others, and had more to say about it
Summary
Résumé L’article examine en quoi les individus sont des êtres humains réflexifs qui interprètent le monde en relation aux choses qu’ils jugent importantes, et comment les pratiques de la charité sont évaluées et imbriquées dans leurs vies à des degrés divers de signification et d’importance. The article will argue that people make evaluative decisions about charitable giving based on their concerns and life situations (Stirling, 2010). It will discuss how gendered roles, moral individualism and class subjectivities can shape practices of giving. Reflexivity is personal and subjective, and has causal powers It is about real things, deliberating (always fallibly) about social relations and objective powers that affect individuals’ goals (Archer, 2007: 15–16). Sayer (2005: 42) argues that, while Bourdieu provides an insightful understanding of how people judge themselves and others, and the practices and objects
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