Tensions in various fields of volunteering. A comparison between the church, sports, environmental associations and welfare organisations.

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Chantal Munsch
• Subject Area: Empirical Social Research
• Term: from 2019 to 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 419367942

Certain international studies have shown a processual development in the motivation of volunteers for civic engagement, and that process is shaped by the interplay between the individual and the context in which he or she is volunteering. Context means in particular the activity, the group of volunteers, the organisation and interaction with clients. In the light of these findings, the research project will explore whether and to what extent there are field-specific aspects of dynamic volunteering experiences. The basis for the research project will be our own research findings on withdrawal processes of volunteering in the welfare sector. A major factor in those processes is a field-specific tension: on the one hand, volunteers have specific experiences in their care work or with other volunteers that strengthen their commitment. On the other hand, volunteers develop an attitude of protest to practices that they observe in the field. Both types of experience are strongly shaped by the welfare sector: care and assistance lead to special interpersonal relationships; at the same time, the welfare sector is driven by economisation, which is central to protest.This raises the question of what tensions characterise civil engagement in other fields. Which specific activities allow experiences that strengthen commitment? What aspects of the field lead to protest? In what ways can that protest be articulated? Are there tensions common to all or multiple fields? The project compares the volunteering sectors of church, environmental charities and sport both with each other and with previous findings from the welfare sector. The fields vary in terms of the work carried out by the volunteers; the project will also compare volunteering in small, independent charities with work in the context of large organisations and associations. Our research will explore the perspective of volunteers who have dropped out. They are able to recount the volunteering process and its development as a whole, including ultimate withdrawal and the tensions involved. Narratives from these volunteers will be compared in each field with group discussions with volunteers who are still active. This comparison should allow an understanding of both the aspects specific to a given field and to tensions in volunteering that are common to all fields. The methodological basis will be the documentary method, as the research relates to collectively shared experiences. With its focus on the field-specific aspects of volunteering, the processual nature of volunteering and the perspective of the volunteers, the research project will offer an innovative angle in volunteering research.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants