The liquid organization of volunteer tourism: Implications for responsibility

Drawing from developments in sociology and organizational studies, this paper argues for a new understanding of volunteer tourism as liquid organization. It aims to explore the organization of volunteer tourism using a liquid organization perspective and to better understand the potential implications of this liquidity on the responsibility of volunteer tourism organizations to host communities. The analysis is based on data collected from 80 volunteer tourism organizations. The findings reveal that the volunteer tourism organizations show characteristics of liquid organization to varying degrees. The significance of the research is to problematize the way in which the institutional characteristics of volunteer tourism are (not) conceptualized in current literature and to introduce liquid organization as a means of reinvigorating debate about responsibility.