Navigating the politics of recognition in volunteering: perspectives of young volunteers in Aotearoa New Zealand

ABSTRACT This paper examines young volunteer’s perspectives of recognition in Aotearoa New Zealand. There is a politics of recognition to navigate with the rise of formalized practices of recognition that award and reward volunteer efforts. Many of these practices draw on a neoliberal logic that centre the individual and apply instrumental motivations to their engagement, which we describe as ‘accolades’. Drawing on in-depth interviews with young people, our analysis identifies a disconnect between the dominant forms of accolade that young volunteers receive, and the recognition that they consider meaningful. While volunteers appreciated accolades, they nevertheless treated them with caution and concern, highlighting the potential for accolades to elevate certain individuals while acting to marginalize, exclude and potentially devalue volunteers’ contributions. In contrast to these reservations, young volunteers considered forms of recognition that were relational and justice-based to be significant and meaningful, particularly those that allowed for community solidarity and engaged structural questions of power. In exploring these perspectives, we argue that neoliberal approaches to recognition, despite their prevalence, fail to capture young volunteers’ perceptions of the possibilities of recognition.