Abstract

As foundational elements of civil society, volunteers represent a community's self-organizing capacity. Although youth voluntarism is a growing phenomenon in Kyrgyzstan, the specific drivers within this transition economy remain under-theorized and often lack a unified model. This study applies the “hybrid volunteering framework,” which traditionally situates motivation between micro-level individual agency and macro-level formal organizations. Significantly, this research extends the framework by incorporating a critical meso-level dimension, arguing that motivation is not solely negotiated within formal institutions.

Utilizing in-depth interviews with 23 young volunteers in Naryn, the study demonstrates that informal community structures—grounded in informal leadership, cultural traditions (collective self-help), social connectedness, and moral obligations—significantly shape participation. Findings reveal a hybrid system where modern professional development intersects with traditional community resilience. Ultimately, this research provides a more nuanced, unified model for understanding how diverse drivers collectively sustain long-term youth social engagement in transition economies.