Social, human and political capital of Olympic volunteers

Volume 6, Number 3, 2021, P. 362–372

[ SOCIOLOGICAL SCIENCES ]

Article (file: pdf, size: 573 KB, downloads: 286)

Abstract:

Olympic volunteer programs are types of event-driven volunteering. These programs involve volunteering at major sporting events such as the Olympic and / or Paralympic Games. Volunteer programs are implemented internationally for every modern Olympic and Paralympic Games. In Russia, the Olympic volunteer program is a comprehensive program that is implemented on the basis of intersectoral interaction during not only the preparation and holding of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, but also after their end. About 25,000 volunteers took part in the program. Based on the theories of social, human and political capital by Pierre Bourdieu, James Coleman and Robert Putnam and interviews with volunteers participating in the Sochi 2014 Olympic program, this article attempts to analyze how participation in the practices of Olympic volunteering can contribute to the development of social, human and political capital of volunteers. The analysis of the results of research, we determined that the Olympic volunteering can contribute to the social, human and political capital of volunteers. This study contributes to the study of social, human and political capital, as well as provides an opportunity to obtain additional information about the consequences of volunteering for experts and organizers of volunteer programs and can be used to improve the quality of work with volunteers and the effectiveness of volunteer programs.

Keywords:

volunteering; Olympic volunteer programs; social capital; human capital, political capital

Author:

Marina P. Sukharkova, analyst, National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE), Laboratory for Interdisciplinary Studies in Non-Commercial Sector, Centre for Studies of Civil Society and the Nonprofit Sector, Moscow, Russia

For citation:

Sukharkova M.P. (2021) Social, human and political capital of Olympic volunteers. Sotsial’naya kompetentnost’ = Social Competence. Vol. 6. No. 3. P. 362–372. (In Russ.)

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