A Social History of Student Volunteering

Since the late nineteenth century, students have been involved in a diverse range of voluntary activities. They have assisted impoverished families, provided relief for refugees fleeing persecution, campaigned for peace, helped to rebuild institutions devastated by war, and challenged the persistence of inequality and injustice in an age of affluence. While successive generations have caricatured students as narcissistic, aloof and naive, A History of Student Volunteering makes the case that the student contribution to civil society in Britain (and beyond) was substantial and deserves greater recognition. At a time when British universities are increasingly acknowledging the importance of extra-curricular activities, this is a salient piece of historical research. The book advances three core arguments. First, Georgina Brewis contends that the study of student volunteering enriches our understanding of student life beyond the lecture hall. Building on work by Carol Dyhouse, James Vernon and Mike Day on the extra-curricular life of students, Brewis seeks to illuminate the changing nature of the student experience. Secondly, she holds that student social action contributed to the emergence of a ‘student estate’ in twentieth-century Britain. If student volunteers enjoyed only limited success in bridging the gap between the university and the wider community, their work solidified bonds between students from a variety of institutions and social backgrounds. This shared student identity underpinned the growth of the national and international student movement. Thirdly, Brewis submits that student volunteering drove change in the wider volunteering movement over the twentieth century. Student volunteers were at the vanguard of attempts to reimagine the purpose of voluntary service, and affected a shift in the relationship between voluntary organizations, political campaigns and the state

Attendance · Media studies · Political science · Sociology · Social Work Education and Practice · Gender Studies · Law