"Functionaries": perspectives on volunteer board members in cooperative banks

This ethnographic research project aims to investigate the motivations, challenges and social dynamics of volunteer board members (“functionaries”) in regional cooperative banks of the Austrian Raiffeisen tradition. It explores how functionaries experience and shape their voluntary work in a regional Raiffeisen bank, with a special focus on the perspectives of women who work in this traditionally male-dominated field. Qualitative research methods, including participant observation and interviews, will be used to answer these questions. The results should provide a thick description of the culture in this field and contribute to a deeper understanding of the internal and external perceptions of rural cooperative banks.