Within the theme of pull factors a further sub-theme of perceived opportunity is present in the narratives of the interviewees. The concept of ‘opportunity’ provides interviewees with a discursive tool to imagine a future of possibilities that may not be available to them in the city environment, or at least may have been more difficult to access. Moreover, the concept of opportunity also incorporates within it the promise of change.
For some interviewees, opportunities presented by volunteering allow for development of the individual themselves. Bourdieu calls this ‘human capital’ (Bourdieu, 1997). The opportunity to expand one’s knowledge through volunteering is palpable for some interviewees and provides a lever to help the participants embed themselves in the local community. Personal development and growth are attractive motivators for individuals to connect with volunteer groups (Sherman et al., 2011). For example, Maryanne appreciates the “opportunity to learn about arts, to learn about local government, to learn about funding. You know, I’ve learnt so much!”
The clarity with which individuals see these opportunities is directly related to the level of population within the Mercury Bay area. It is much easier to gain recognition in a small town as opposed to a big city simply because it is much easier to be
visible when individuals’ paths cross in a variety of different contexts. Additionally it is relatively easy to gain access to exposure through the local media, as some of the
participants have done in the course of their work with volunteer organizations. In the Mercury Bay area there is a free local weekly newspaper that is widely read, as well as a local radio station that broadcasts to the immediate area. These two forms of media focus more or less exclusively on local content. Any new business, initiative or community action within the Mercury Bay area is likely to attract some level of exposure through these mediums.
Maryanne is one of three interviewees whose work with volunteering has attracted local media attention. Consequently Maryanne has become a relatively well-known figure in Mercury Bay and this has contributed to the growth of the organization with which she volunteers. She acknowledges that this achievement would be difficult in a larger urban area where there are many groups competing for space and attention.
There’s a certain privilege in that. In coming into a community which is almost like a blank canvas. So that privilege, for me, is that this community has allowed me to explore this whole facilitation of [volunteering field]. In a city, probably 300 other groups and
individuals associated with those groups are doing what I’m doing
here, but because it’s a blank canvas, I’ve had this colossal opportunity. (Maryanne)
Aside from exposure through the local media, individuals see opportunity to make sense of their lives and to satisfy their altruistic intentions through local volunteer groups. The availability of volunteering opportunities combined with a perceived sense of being valued for one’s work or skill can interact to build a new identity.
[There is] much more scope in small towns, many more organizations that need you. Well, yeah those are my two main reasons. Because
there’s a need, and because you’re more comfortable when you go and do it and it’s a bit more casual and it’s less competitive. I mean in
some cases in Auckland it’s a case of “Oh well, who needs me? Well it doesn’t really look like anyone needs me- well let’s not try” (Lynn).
The visibility and accessibility of opportunities in Mercury Bay make it easier for people to connect with volunteer organisations. Because of the cross-over that occurs in a smaller population, where people have greater recognition of others through acquaintances and interactions in their daily lives, individuals feel more able to approach others to become volunteers; or in the case of in-migrants, approach people they know, or know of, to join a local community organisation. Granovetter (1973) calls this accessibility to wider social circles “the strength of weak ties”. He asserts that it is easier for individuals to access social capital and other resources through acquaintances and friends of friends, rather than through strong ties or closed groups. This is because the networks which overlap each other are much wider amongst weak ties, and cover more social groups because of their heterogeneous nature. To restate this, those with whom we have weak ties also move in circles other than our own usual circles, and thus have the ability to put us into contact with a wider and more diverse range of people.
In a small population, weak ties extend and are reinforced more readily than in a larger population simply because due to economies of scale, an individual is more likely to come across a person they have had contact with through a weak tie connection. For example, there are only two relatively small supermarkets in the entire Mercury Bay area and consequently meeting a person who has been introduced through a weak tie in the supermarket aisles is relatively common. Coupled with the in-migrant’s wish to become embedded as locals and their initially conscious effort to attune their habitus to the local social norms, in-migrants will often engage in conversation with people with whom they have weak ties; thus supermarket conversations are surprisingly commonplace occurrences in Mercury Bay.
In-migrants are able to acquire the habitus of an endogenous actor over a period of time. This is achieved through the sequential transformation of their dispositions and expectations as they act, react and interact in the fields of their daily encounters (Prieto et al., 2013). Bourdieu (1997, p. 52) states that “the existence of a network of
connections is not a natural given”. Therefore an individual (and more pointedly, a new in-migrant) must actively work to establish a network of people with which to form functional and mutually beneficial relationships. Furthermore, Bourdieu (1997)
asserts that the investment of time and energy into establishing networks only makes sense if those networks aim to produce and reproduce durable relationships that are directly usable.