RT Journal Article
T1 Charities as symbolic families: ethnographic evidence from Spain
A1 Grau Rebollo, Jorge
A1 Escribano Castaño, Paula
A1 Valenzuela-García, Hugo
A1 Lubbers, Miranda Jessica
AB The purpose of this paper is to explore the care provision of charity organizations that assist people in situations of economic vulnerability. After analyzing central theoretical elements of kinning, the authors contend that charity organizations function as symbolic families for people in need. Ethnographic fieldwork was performed in two sites of a large catholic charity organization in the outskirts of Barcelona. Ethnographic fieldwork included participant observations and informal interviews with individuals located under the official poverty threshold. Symbolic family bonds among different individuals are created through the entwining of interconnectedness, obligation and commitment, sense of belonging, interdependence and the projection of symbolic spaces of hearth. The authors propose the term of “disposable families” (akin to that of Desmond’s, 2013 for dyadic relationships) because a remarkable feature of these bonds is its short-term nature. The consideration of charities as symbolic families offers new insights into their social role and may contribute to reshaping the social function within emergency situations. This research opens new ground for the understanding of charities as something else than care providers, as the relational dimension with clients extends beyond the conventional patron/client relationship. This fact has particular relevance in an economic context of post-crisis, with the Welfare State withdrawal and a deterioration of the traditional sources of informal support.
PB Emerald Insight
YR 2018
FD 2018-08-21
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/133070
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/133070
LA eng
NO Grau Rebollo, Jorge, Escribano, Paula, Valenzuela-García, Hugo, & Lubbers, Miranda J.(2018).Charities as symbolic families: Ethnographic evidence from Spain. Journal of Organizational Ethnography. https://doi.org/10.1108/JOE-03-2018-0012
NO Strategies of Survival in Poor Households: the Role of Formal and Informal Support Networks in Times of Economic Crisis. RecerCaixa Project Reference 2015ACUP 00145, 2016-2020, led by Miranda J. Lubbers and Hugo Valenzuela-García.
DS Docta Complutense
RD 26 mar 2026