Frivillighet vid olyckor och kriser

Uppfattningar om centrala spänningsfält

Abstract

Fields of tension in crisis volunteerism – actor perceptions

An emergent literature in the field of crisis management brings attention to the role and impact of volunteers in crisis events. In the aftermath of significant forest fires in Sweden during the summer of 2018, much public media attention and debate has taken a similar turn. Is there a proper role for previously unorganized volunteers in and responses to crises and, if so, how does it relate to the highly organized and planned world of formal crisis management? This article argues that the phenomenon can be analyzed and discussed not only in terms of the vertical dimension of organizational degree, but also along a cross-cutting dimension of opportunity. Drawing from a series of research interviews with non-state crisis management organizations in Sweden, this article provides a thick description of how practitioners think about problems and possibilities related to crisis volunteerism.