Stories, Visions and Values in Voluntary Organisations

Christina Schwabenland is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Management and Professional Development at London Metropolitan University, UK, and teaches courses on managing diversity and cross cultural management. Previously she worked for 25 years in the voluntary sector, including 13 years as the Chief Executive of the Elfrida Society. She holds an MA and PhD from the University of East London for research into voluntary organizations in the UK and in India.

'This beautifully written and brilliantly researched book will appeal to three groups of scholars - those interested in voluntary organizations, in postcolonial studies and in stories and storytelling. The author demonstrates the remarkable power of stories in organizations and their ability to turn into driving forces for action. She opens numerous windows and offers rare insights into the heart of voluntary organizations.' Yiannis Gabriel, Royal Holloway University of London, UK '...a useful addition to the comity of scarce literature on the civil society organizations. It will serve as a handy reference for researchers, scholars, academics and students, besides giving valuable insights to public policy makers to develop a framework of public policy for voluntary organizations.' Vision - The Journal of Business Perspective 'Schwabenland challenges us to engage with the stories of the people in the organizations we are researching and to use their stories as vehicles to explore the different ways in which people imagine the social world and from this create new opportunities to re-imagine their own contexts...Schwabenland's book makes a significant and timely contribution because she offers a way of understanding the connections between the vision and values of voluntary organizations and new ways of imagining and effecting social change.' Organization Studies

• Chapter 1 A Genuine Voluntary Organisation … Setting the Scene; Part I Stories and Visions; Chapter 2 Something Has To Be Done … Creating Organisations as a Response to Social Injustice; Chapter 3 A Road from Periphery to Centre : Stories of Empowerment; Chapter 4 From Private Trouble to Public Concern : Voluntary Organisations and Social Change; Part II Stories and Values; Chapter 5 Playing Pinball with Ideas : Storytelling and the Management of Creativity; Chapter 6 The Dancer and the Dance : Storytelling and Leadership; Chapter 7 Swimming Sharks : Storytelling and Managing Change; Chapter 8 A Vehicle for Exploring : Concluding Thoughts;