While scholars of management have extensively discussed paradoxes, scholars of volunteer management have given them little systematic attention. This special issue brings together the field of paradox studies with the research field of volunteer management. While many studies highlight paradoxes between different “missions” and mandates within volunteer-involving organizations, this introduction suggests using a “dramaturgical” approach that highlights the interplay between different actors, audiences, instruments for communication and action, and the broader moral, institutional frameworks in which the organizations operate. We review the field of paradox studies in management, then connect it to volunteer management, and then suggest ways that the dramaturgical approaches might help systematize some of the paradoxes that scholars have found in organizations that use volunteers. Next, the introduction summarizes this issue’s articles. Finally, we suggest that paradoxes take a more prominent role in studies of volunteer management.

虽然管理学者广泛讨论了悖论，但志愿者管理学者却很少对其进行系统的关注。本期特刊汇集了悖论研究领域和志愿者管理研究领域。虽然许多研究强调了志愿者参与组织内不同“使命”和任务之间的矛盾，但本介绍建议使用“戏剧化”方法，强调不同参与者、受众、沟通和行动工具以及更广泛的道德、制度框架之间的相互作用组织在其中运作。我们回顾了管理领域的悖论研究，然后将其与志愿者管理联系起来，然后提出戏剧方法可能有助于系统化学者们在使用志愿者的组织中发现的一些悖论的方法。接下来，引言对本期文章进行了总结。最后，我们建议悖论在志愿者管理研究中发挥更突出的作用。