Geographies of labour in the third sector: making Hybrid Workforces in Place

Abstract

This article aims to explore the geographies of labour in the third sector as these are constituted at the intersection of the multiple social, economic and cultural processes that intersect in place. Whilst previous research has examined either geographies of voluntarism or spatial divisions of paid labour in the sector, we draw on ‘the new sociology of work’ to offer a framework that recognises the interdependencies of paid and unpaid work in the sector as these are produced and reproduced in time and place. Taking an organizational lens, we explore the everyday activities of volunteers and paid staff in three very different parts of the UK: a deprived town in the North of England, a Welsh coastal village and the East End of London. Our findings show that (i) understanding the hybrid nature of the third sector workforce, and (ii) as this is made in particular places offers insights to the capacity of the sector ‘on the ground’ that should be taken into account in shaping political and policy ambitions for the sector that are more often articulated at a national scale.