The Volunteer Response to the AIDS Epidemic in New York City: Implications for Research on Voluntarism

Abstract

This article examines changes in the demand for voluntary labor, focusing on how volunteers were mobilized to provide services in response to the AIDS epidemic in New York City. It considers how social change modifies the demand for voluntary labor and the distribution of unpaid workers in various types of jobs and organizations. The volunteer response to AIDS was shaped by a number of different historical, cultural, and political factors. The study also suggests ways researchers could broaden their focus on the motivations of volunteers and the place of voluntarism in American life.