Hobbyist and Volunteer Devotee Work

Abstract

We will follow in this chapter the same framework set out in the preceding one as it bears on remunerated hobbyist and volunteer- inspired devotee activities. As regards occupational devotion the opportunities for this kind of employment are murkier than for professionals, consultants, and counselors. Today, for example, automation and deskilling of blue-collar work have taken their toll (Braverman, 1974). The main outcome of this process has been that ‘skill requirements have increased for some occupations and decreased for others, while at the same time technological change has displaced some workers from their jobs altogether’ (Kalleberg, 2007, p. 50). Nonetheless, Kalleberg observes that at least in the United States the proportion of skilled craft occupations – our devotee trades- workers – has ‘remained fairly constant during the twentieth century’ (2007, p. 48). Meanwhile, compared with the today’s trades, the contemporary world of small business appears to offer many more opportunities for a fulfillment career. And those opportunities are highly diverse.