Understanding Volunteerism in Civil Safety and Security: An International Perspective (NIAS/CSS/CRE/U/WP/012/2019)

Volunteerism is of increasing importance in societies’ attempts to improve on civil safety and security and, at the same time, faces speciÀc challenges. The paper is a theoretical attempt towards an explanation of volunteering in an international perspective. It starts by comparing historical traditions of volunteer work in two quite different countries, namely India and Germany. This comparison leads to a critical assessment of some deÀnitory problems of volunteering. In the main part of the paper we try to explain volunteerism by combining classical psychological approaches, based on values and motivation, with a Neo-Gandhian approach that puts the voluntary action into focus. Finally, we draw some speculative conclusions on how this theoretical perspective might be brought to bear in overcoming the challenges civil safety and security organizations face in these two countries