Dono, riconoscimento e reciprocità. Le alleanze possibili di volontariato e mutualismo

Mutualism and volunteering are social phenomena that differ formally and essentially, but the role that they play within society is described as sometimes antagonistic, sometimes complementary. The aim of this article is to identify some intersectional elements capable of producing alliances for social transformation projects. This perspective appears promising today, after the emergence of mutualist and voluntary experiences that have countered the economic crises from 2008 onwards, the reduction of public welfare and the Covid-19 pandemic. Rather than persisting on an analysis that emphasises the difference between a mutualism that opposes neoliberal capitalism and a volunteerism that merely balances the faults of neoliberalism itself without questioning, indeed legitimising, its functioning, the article highlights - through the dynamics among shared components such as gift, recognition and reciprocity - an intrinsic critique of the homo oeconomicus model and a normative tension towards a more just society.