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
