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Articles

Vol. 10 (2019): Społeczne konteksty bezpieczeństwa

Caringly subjective agency of Volunteer Fire Brigade members expressing the benefits of gifts and sacrifice for local communities

DOI
https://doi.org/10.19195/2083-7763.10.14
Submitted
11 May 2020
Published
11-05-2020

Abstract

In the paper, I undertake the exploration of pro-social subjectivity as a latent feature defining the catalog of instructions made by an individual concerning another human being or toward a wider social environment. These instructions are released in practice in the form of various forms of social action for the common good, shaped in specific situational contexts. I perceive pro-social subjectiv-ity here as an emerging or shaped construct of the predisposition of a subject reflectively acting for the common good. The construct of subjectivity is formed by external social influences embedded in the cultural dimension and showed in the form of numerous gifts. The subject adopts the role of cre-ative influence on the existing situational context, often overcoming structural limitations due to the power of reflectiveness. The person undertakes activities related to the transformation of the social en-vironment, reproduction of resources relevant to the social tissue, demonstrates a commitment to the community, co-shapes changes or implements grassroots initiatives. By pro-social orders, I understand here the tendency of the individual to commit acts of sacrifice, at the sources of which we will find the commitment that leads one to such a pattern of demeanor. These acts are specific determinants of attitudes that should be described as pro-social. In the progress of operationalization, I selected five theoretical types of agency in the field of pro-social activities: 1. the agency of civic involvement, 2. the subjective agency expressing attention for democracy, 3. the agency expressing self-gift, 4. the agency expressing the thing gift and 5. the agency in the interest of common good. The distinguished types of agency reflect the repertoire of attitudes toward the implementation (or lack thereof) of pro-social acts as a special kind of gifts for others. Regardless of the generalizations made, these gifts are given to other people, conducive ― and also demonstrative ― to specific forms of social solidarity. In the prog-ress of empirical research, the model of pro-social subjectivity revealed the existence of seven pro-so-cial orientations showing the reflectiveness of man in relation to the following concerns: 1. the direct involvement in co-creating relatively close social networks, 2. the civic level involvement, 3. expressing concerns for democracy, 4. the bond-forming potential of culture, 5. beneficent and charitable support showing the imperatives of generosity, 6. the strengthening of social bonds, a sense of solidarity and 7. self-gift. The dynamics of pro-social subjectivity shows the orientations of members of the Volunteer Fire Department, the research was conducted out in 2017 on a nationwide experiment of 620 people.