The diffusion of volunteering abroad and in Russia: cultural foundations, assessment of barriers, intensification technologies

The need to integrate volunteering into national strategies for achieving sustainable development goals, and the importance of its role in curbing the implications of crisis processes caused by the coronavirus pandemic have intensified the scientific search for barriers to civic participation in volunteering and mechanisms for eliminating them. At the same time, researchers focus on identifying barriers of a certain type on the example of one country or group of countries, and, when searching for ways to eliminate those barriers, they underestimate the role of national culture. The purpose of our study is to systematize barriers and promising technologies for intensifying the diffusion of volunteering among the population and to identify major features of national culture in this process. Barriers to the diffusion of volunteer activity in society are systematized into three groups: barriers on the part of the state, barriers on the part of the non-profit sector, and barriers on the part of the individual. We show national features of their formation, which proceed from the specifics of emergence and evolution of volunteerism in the course of socioeconomic development. Using the postulates of institutional economic theory, we identify a system of institutions that intensify the diffusion of volunteering in society, including institutions for the promotion of volunteer practices, institutions for the development of civil society, institutions for the development of horizontal ties through network mechanisms for the diffusion of norms of civic participation, institutions for improving the reputation of volunteering among the population, the institute of volunteer education, institutions for increasing the motivation of participation in volunteering. On the basis of econometric analysis, we have determined that the cultural dimensions highlighted by G. Hofstede, such as the level of individualism, femininity and tolerance, have a significant impact on the extent of development of volunteering in the country. Taking into account the identified cultural features and effective technologies that promote residents’ engagement in volunteer activities, we determine directions for intensification of this process in Russia. Development of a comprehensive system of institutions for the diffusion of volunteering in our country will be a promising area for our future research.