The Welcomers: How volunteers frame their commitment for refugees

Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksContributions to collected editions/anthologiesResearchpeer-review

Authors

In Germany, the refugee crisis of 2015 mobilized millions of German citizens to volunteer for refugees. Overnight, a broad movement, different from previous forms of solidarity activism, emerged. Its focus on humanitarian help, integration measures and its lack of ideological coherence suggest that is not a social movement in the conventional sense. The paper argues, however, that this new volunteerism for refugees is a political movement of a different kind, as an analysis of survey data, semi-narrative interviews and group discussions with volunteers reveals. For the majority of volunteers, helping refugees is a symbolic form of political articulation, particularly against mobilization efforts from right wing extremists on the local level.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationRefugee Protection and Civil Society in Europe
EditorsMargit Feischmidt, Ludger Pries, Celine Cantat
Number of pages21
Place of PublicationCham
PublisherSpringer International Publishing AG
Publication date18.10.2018
Pages221-241
ISBN (print)978-3-319-92740-4, 978-3-030-06505-8
ISBN (electronic)978-3-319-92741-1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 18.10.2018
Externally publishedYes

    Research areas

  • Sociology - Germany, Hegemony, Volunteers, Social movements, political mobilization, Right wing extremism, left wing commitment