Voluntary Work and Labour History

Abstract

At a meeting of the Sydney Branch of the Australian Society for the Study of Labour History in early February 1997,1 presented a paper based on my doctoral thesis which revolved around aspects of voluntary work in Australia during World War II. This thesis focussed on voluntary work, or unpaid work, carried out by people within structured organisations in the public sphere. In the presentation,! argued that not only was this type of voluntary work productive, but that it should be considered an appropriate topic for labour history. I stated that it was now important for labour history to embrace the concept of voluntary work; and offered some views as to why it had taken until now for the discussion to commence. Perhaps not surprisingly the paper sparked considerable vigorous and lively debate. This article is an expanded version of that paper. It is introductory in nature and is designed to offer some preliminary ideas on the topic of voluntary work and labour history, and to initiate discussion and debate. Paid work has been the cornerstone of the Australian journal Labour History. A Journal of Labour and Social History. To date, there has been complete silence from Labour History to the inclusion of voluntary work as a topic worthy of academic debate. It is evident from a cursory analysis of articles published in the journal that voluntary work has either not been considered eligible or important, or indeed relevant to labour history in Australian discourse. Thankfully this is beginning to change. I recently assessed an excellent article dealing with voluntary work in the interwar period in Queensland. Why, however, has this discussion taken so long to begin? What does this silence indicate about not only labour history's view of voluntary work, but all Australian historical discourse? In a discussion of this nature, it is necessary to define the terms 'voluntary work', 'volunteers' and 'voluntary organisations'. It is also important to understand the voluntary principle or voluntary action which underpins these constructs. Many of these definitions are highly ambiguous and contentious. The voluntary principle is often acknowledged as an integral part of democratic society. The making of a successful democratic pluralistic society does not depend solely on the state or the private economy, but on its citizens acting collectively, in association with each other, or individually, for the common good. The voluntary action of active citizenship, combined with individualism within a democratic state, was identified by Alexis de Tocqueville in the nineteenth century. The ensuing freedom of association is a fundamental right placed firmly within western social, cultural, political and economic life.1 A.F.C. Bourdillon stated in 1945 that 'when a man has a new enthusiasm he buys a twopenny notebook, prints Minute Book carefully on the first page, calls together some of his friends under the name of a Committee - and behold a new voluntary society is launched'.2 It is this fundamental right to assemble or gather together which is at the core of the voluntary principle within democracy. Associated with this are the notions of civic pride, civic virtue or a duty to one's community.