From disregard to integration: Facets of disaster governance in times of changing forms of volunteering

Abstract

The article analyzes diverse responses to changing forms of disaster volunteering in Germany. Based on an assessment of governing techniques of disaster management and civil protection organizations and authorities (DMOs) towards DMO-external volunteering, the article discusses, how changes in the voluntary system and the rise of new actors in the field are problematized, how entrenched practices are challenged and new techniques for collaboration are developed and how roles, responsibilities and identities are formed, questioned, and altered. It outlines four emerging research fields surrounding legitimacy, competition, democratization of disaster response and responsibilization and reflects upon calls to consider disaster (risk) governance as shared responsibility between governments and other stakeholders, as demanded in the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030.