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Research Journal of the University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka- Rohana 11, 2019
In conventional interpretations, social development is seen as a goal of economic
development. We have taken the view, as has been already well articulated by many
writers, at any level of society it happens, social development can be viewed as an
action too. It enabled us to observe that modern community volunteering, if applied
with connection-centered approach and strategies, energizes, mobilizes, and involves
local communities as active partners in local level social development action
generating important welfare and wellbeing benefits to the community per se. This is
a process happening at the grassroots through volunteering which can mainly be
observed in the context of local level activities of Community-based Organizations.
Therefore, we conclude that modern volunteering is now a community level
connection-centered action which promotes effective community engagement. It is
extensively used in the context of local level activities of Community-based
Organizations. A significant outcome of this volunteering activism is that it
contributes to transform local social development into an action creating conducive
local conditions for it to take place. It energizes involvement of community as an
active partner in local social development action and generate important welfare and
wellbeing benefits for the community itself.
References
Ahmadi, H. (2013). Volunteering, Bloomington, Indiana: Xlibis Corporation.
Bauman, Z. (2001). Community: Seeking Safety in an Insecure World, Cambridge:
Polity Press.
Berger, P.L. and T. Luckmann (2011). The Social Construction of Reality: A
Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge (original publication in 1966), New
York: Open Road Media (reprint 2011).
Burkey, S. (1993). People First: A Guide to Self-Reliant, Participatory Rural
Development, London: Zed Books.
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