Volunteer Movement Research Articles

John R. Mott amidst the students: Historical and missiological gleanings for today

A century ago, John R. Mott (1865-1955) was the most recognizable name among Christian student movement leaders on six continents. Working together with other leaders from around the world, Mott was instrumental in ministry of the YMCA, the World’s Student Christian Federation, and the Student Volunteer Movement. This article first discusses Mott’s contributions as a strategist and analyzes the nature of his expansive network. It concludes with an examination of some theological themes that appear most prominently in his writings and correspondence. The article also interrogates what the American Society of Missiology and related organizations might learn from a similar examination of our network and Mott’s theological reflections on the ‘larger Christ’.

Проблема самоидентификации волонтеров как особенность развития добровольческого движения в России

This article presents the results of a study dedicated to the self-identification of volunteers. The author exam-ines the issue of participants in the volunteer movement refusing to perceive and represent themselves as vol-unteers. Based on an expert survey of leaders from various volunteer organizations – social, environmental, patriotic, and tourism-oriented – the author identifies several reasons for this phenomenon. The reluctance to identify as volunteers may be linked to internal value systems (mentality, religiosity, upbringing), contradictions of true and declared volunteering, a desire to avoid time-consuming reporting, and potential reputational risks. Additionally, the indistinct separation of volunteering from other socially significant activities – such as charity, good neighborliness, and civic activism – is highlighted as a contributing factor. The author also considers the ambiguity in the use of the terms “volunteer” and “voluntarist” as a probable cause.

Специфика добровольческой деятельности в условиях современной России

The article presents the features of the formation of modern Russian volunteer activity, which in the last decade has become a large-scale systemic social phenomenon in the history of our country. The active life position of Russians is realized in the desire to be useful to society through real participation in specific projects of the vol-unteer movement. The approaches, reasons and potential for the development and functioning of volunteer movements are considered. It is noted that in the formation of volunteering as a social system there is, on the one hand, reliance on traditional experience, on the other hand – the desire to use the potential of modern technology and management functioning. The demand for the volunteer movement is beyond doubt, however, in the modern situation, its organization and functionality require the participation of government agencies in order to structure, finance and provide a legal basis for many activities carried out by volunteers. Various areas in which there is a greater need for volunteer support are being considered, ranging from helping the elderly to providing all kinds of support in situations of natural disasters, such as fires or floods. Modern Russian volun-teering is based on mutual assistance, spirituality and a sense of collectivism that has been inherent in our people since ancient times.

Волонтёрское движение как элемент системы социального управления

The article analyzes the volunteer movement as a social phenomenon and an element of social management through the prism of the system approach. It is emphasized that the volunteer movement combines subjectivity and objectivity at the same time. The objectivity of the volunteer movement is manifested in its interaction with the state, which defines the framework for the implementation of volunteer activities and the existence of volunteer organizations through laws, concepts, regulations; subjectivity ‒ in the ability to independently determine the goals of their activities within the framework of existing legislation, as well as to exercise self-government. Volunteer movement, as a subject of social management, has goals that are distinguishable at the macro-, meso- and micro-levels. The article identifies the complexity of the organizations of the volunteer movement and the resulting problem of volunteer movement management. The author focuses on the motivation of volunteers as a determining factor for studying the goals of volunteering at the micro level.

“Rumyantsev Readings — 2024”: N.P. Rumyantsev’s Heritage and Topical Issues of Development of Modern Librarianship

On 23—25 April 2024, the Russian State Library (RSL) hosted the annual International Research and Practical Conference “Rumyantsev Readings” (organizers: Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, RSL, the Library Assembly of Eurasia). The topics raised at the conference invariably attract a large number of specialists from different regions of Russia and other countries with their versatility and relevance. In 2024, representatives of the Russian Federation, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Tajikistan, and the Republic of Uzbekistan took part in it. Our country was represented by specialists from many cities and regions. 294 people took part in the event in person, 1,697 connections were recorded during the broadcasting of the sessions.The conference topics covered a wide range of issues on the theory and practice of library science, bibliography and book studies. Among its main directions: history of libraries and other scientific and cultural institutions, as well as pages of life and activity of people connected with them; disclosure of book depositories’ funds; research of collections and individual copies of manuscript and printed monuments; multifaceted activities of modern libraries. One of the main goals of the conference is to expand intercultural interaction and co-operation between cultural, educational and scientific institutions. Within the framework of the “Rumyantsev Readings” the work of sections, both traditional for many years, and timed to the dates and events of 2024, was organized. Special attention was paid to the personality and heritage of the creator of the Rumyantsev Museum N.P. Rumyantsev (1754—1826), whose 270th anniversary is being celebrated in 2024. Other key topics of the conference were: “Scientific and methodological activities of libraries”, “Collectors, curators, researchers: the history of cultural institutions in the faces”, “The selfless people of the past and modern volunteer movement in the life of libraries”, “Book monuments in the library collections: creation, existence, storage and use”, “Library collections in the digital environment”, “Staffing makes the difference: young researchers in the modern library”.The programme of the event included, in addition to the plenary session, ten sections and two round tables. By the beginning of the conference a collection of materials in three parts was prepared and published by the publishing house of the RSL “Pashkov Dom”, it included 168 articles by 180 authors.“Rumyantsev Readings” have been held for more than four decades and continue to be a popular research and practical event among library professionals and representatives of other educational, scientific and cultural institutions, contributing to the development of scientific research and the introduction of new practices.

ON THE ISSUE OF THE IMPACT OF VOLUNTARY ACTIVITY ON SOCIAL COHESION: CHALLENGES TODAY

The article examines the peculiarities of the formation of the volunteer movement during the years of Ukraine's independence, namely the significant historical moments of its formation. Modern scientific approaches to the interpretation of the concepts of "volunteer movement" and "community cohesion" are analyzed. It was found that the basis of the development of the volunteer movement is the cohesion of the people, community, and society. The war in Ukraine in 2014 was the birth of the volunteer movement, and the second wave of the full-scale invasion of 2022 was the development and increase in the number of volunteers, volunteer initiatives and volunteer organizations. The article presents the results of the annual report of the "World Philanthropy Index". It was determined that volunteering became a manifestation of social cohesion of the community, society and is considered not only as a manifestation of charity, voluntary activity, but as a tool of influence on the people in modern conditions, and volunteering itself is a tool of influence: on the development of youth; for the activation of society; on the social cohesion of the community; on the identity of citizens; on the development of moral and spiritual values; on the emotional stability and indomitability of people. In this context, volunteering is a tool to influence all horizontal and vertical aspects of our society, using all possible methods of influence and methods that would motivate the public to action. The purpose of the article: actualization of volunteer activities in society, community, state on the basis of activation, identity, cohesion and moral norms. The task: to reveal the main aspects of volunteering in society, as tools of influence on the community.

The volunteer movement as a tool for strengthening civil solidarity in wartime Authors

The volunteer movement is an important tool in strengthening civil solidarity, especially in times of war. The aim of the study is to determine and analyze the role of the volunteer movement in strengthening civil solidarity in times of war. The research used methods such as normative dogmatics, historical analysis of law, comparative law, the method of alternatives, as well as the method of analysis and synthesis. The research found that volunteer initiatives help to mobilize citizens to provide assistance and support to combatants and victims, as well as to strengthen social solidarity. Ways and examples of strengthening the volunteer movement, improving it in line with world standards, were considered. Conclusions. Successful coordination and cooperation between volunteers, civil society and the state are essential to maximize the effectiveness and efficiency of efforts in responding to military conflicts and in shaping the image of the state.

THE VOLUNTEER MOVEMENT IN UKRAINE AND GERMANY IN THE LATE 20TH AND EARLY 21ST CENTURIES: COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

The full-scale invasion of Russian troops into Ukraine in 2022 and the temporary occupation of a part of its territory made the issue of developing means of overcoming large-scale humanitarian disasters and ensuring the stability and security of the population of the European continent relevant for the world public. The authors of the proposed study consider the volunteer movement as a powerful tool of self-organization of society, capable of strengthening state structures in order to overcome crisis phenomena in the areas of ensuring the country’s defence capability, health protection of its population, and providing humanitarian aid to migrants.

Agitational and Propagandistic Measures to Activate Cossack Volunteer Movement in Don Region during Great Patriotic War

This study addresses the enhancement of agitational and propagandistic measures to activate Cossack volunteerism in the Don region during the Great Patriotic War. Various sources, including archival and published documents, periodicals, testimonies, and contemporaries’ memoirs, were utilized. A comparative-historical analysis of agitational and propagandistic activities conducted in the Don region from 1941 to 1945 indicates significant changes in Soviet approaches and methods of agitation during wartime. Initially, internationalism and socio-political motives (class-based approach) dominated Soviet propaganda at the war’s outset, akin to the pre-war period, leading to the primary involvement of communists, Komsomol members, and Civil War veterans in the Cossack volunteer movement. However, pre-war propaganda approaches quickly lost their effectiveness. By autumn 1941, national-patriotic motives took precedence in Soviet agitation and propaganda efforts. In the Don region, these changes manifested in propaganda appealing to the illustrious combat history of the Don Cossacks and exalting regional patriotism. It is demonstrated that adjusting agitational and propagandistic measures towards strengthening national-patriotic motives proved highly effective, ensuring a steady influx of volunteers into Cossack cavalry formations.

Communicative Dimension of Human Freedom under Deliberative Democracy

Purpose. This article aims to analyse the ways of free communicative solution of civil society problems as a basis for the development of deliberative democracy on the example of the activities of volunteer organisations. Theoretical basis. The conceptual basis of the study is Immanuel Kant’s philosophical understanding of individual obligations as the basis for the institutionalisation of social communication. This concept is developed by Jürgen Habermas in the direction of deliberative democracy. Max Weber, Quentin Skinner, and other theorists give a special status to language communication in the functioning of social institutions. Contemporary Ukrainian researchers analyse the volunteer movement as the basis for the communicative implementation of human freedom. Originality. Practices of political performance in society contribute to the specific and contextual solution of the tasks of communication theory and provide answers to questions about sustainable human needs, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, contribute to solving the political problems of everyday life. Grassroots socio-political movements, and especially volunteer movements, practice free discussion of various social problems, which is the basis of the deliberative democracy. Conclusions. Overcoming value differences between members of society is more effective in deliberative practices as the core of social communication in a democratic society. The substantive way to find new forms of communication is to use deliberative practices of implementing freedom to improve the functioning of social institutions. The formal way is aimed at attracting the experience of volunteer organisations in using the minimum necessary forms of bureaucratisation of social institutions in a democratic society.

Volunteering and fake volunteering in Ukraine: a new research direction through the prism of informal institutions

This study delves into the emergence of fake voluntarism, a novel form of deception observed in Ukraine following the onset of the Russo-Ukrainian war. The full-scale Russian aggression not only spurred the expansion of the volunteer movement but also fostered the proliferation of spurious volunteerism, primarily motivated by the pursuit of personal gain. We conceptualize these contrasting social practices as informal institutions, diverging in their functions. While traditional volunteering falls into the category of ‘complementary’ informal institutions, following G. Helmke and S. Levitsky's typology, fake volunteering represents ‘competing’ institutions that not only diminish the efficacy of formal institutions but also erode the credibility of genuine volunteer efforts. This research aims to expand the scope of study of informal institutions in wartime conditions, in particular, to contribute to the discussion on the reasons for Ukraine's resilience during the war and the challenges of overcoming internal threats. While volunteerism in various forms is an essential element of state resilience, fake volunteerism, along with other corrosive institutions, undermines it from within. Drawing on the open-source data, we extract distinctive attributes that enable the differentiation between these phenomena. Additionally, we delve into the structural factors that foster opportunities for fake volunteering in wartime Ukraine, including inadequate legal oversight, the persistence of personal exchanges, and a high level of trust in volunteers. These conditions, exacerbated by escalating economic pressures and social uncertainties, collectively contribute to the emergence of pseudo-volunteering. Our proposed model of fake volunteering allows for a better understanding of this institution's underlying nature. The research offers a novel perspective in explaining new social practices arising from wartime conditions and offering practical insights for establishing legal and social safeguards against fraud during periods of war and post-war reconstruction.

The Student Labor Camp Movement, Postcolonial Development, and the Shaping of Citizens-to-Be in Independent India, 1954–65

The Government of India organized over ten thousand student labor camps for the purposes of village development between 1954 and 1965. This camp movement functions as a key to the novel idealizations of youth in the postcolonial world and the shifting development agendas of independent India. The image of the toiling and vigorous camper committed to serving the newly created nation-state came to be constructed as India's model citizen-to-be, and this figure embodies the emergent forms of postcolonial nationalist politics and ideologies of the 1950s and 1960s. This youthful labor force was depicted in the developmentalist imagination of India as literally building and metaphorically embodying the nation-state and its ideologies of physical fitness, secularism, anti-casteism, and national discipline. This article will argue that camp life negotiated a hierarchy of citizens that made the educated youth the agent of development and the villager the object of development. The running of these camps by volunteer movements such as the National Cadet Corps, the Bharat Scouts and Guides, and the Bharat Sevak Samaj brings to light how the developmental apparatus in India worked or did not work in practice for the students and the poorer classes.

Motivation of Volunteers during Great Patriotic War (Case Study of Rostov Region)

This article explores the motivations behind citizens joining volunteer formations during the Great Patriotic War. The study relies on archival and published sources on the history of volunteer movements in the Rostov region. The research is based on a military-anthropological approach, aiming to understand the worldview of volunteers and the qualitative and quantitative parameters of volunteer movements in the Don region. The relevance of the study lies in the necessity of attracting more attention from researchers to understand what drove individuals to act during wartime. A detailed analysis of the archives at the Center for Documentation of Recent History of Rostov Region revealed characteristic models of voluntarism. The author concludes that the mechanism of agitation and propaganda intertwines with deeply personal motives of resistance against the enemy. A classification of tools influencing participants’ motives is proposed, including visual imagery, state symbolism, the work of agitators and propagandists, and oath-taking. The novelty of the research lies in the author’s exploration of the mechanism influencing public consciousness in a specific region with limited time to prepare the population for resistance against the adversary.

Separate Aspects of Evidentiary Basis Formation During the Investigation of Facts Related to Collaborationism

The Article Purpose is to outline separate aspects of forming the evidentiary basis during the investigation of facts related to collaborationism, identify challenges, and determine ways to address them. To fulfil this goal, general scientific and specialized scientific methods have been applied. It is emphasized that the formation of the evidentiary basis during pre-trial investigation of collaboration crimes depends on the availability of witness and eyewitness testimony, the identification of which is a leading task of the investigation involving the use of various measures (i.e., government and local self-government bodies obtain information about these people and suspects or temporarily access property and documents as envisaged by law). The paper stresses that the task of investigators in investigating this type of crime is to identify private individuals, representatives of volunteer movements, or community organizations who have documented crimes associated with collaborationist activities, and to acquire information they have documented. Answers to questions arising during pre-trial investigation are contained in the expert conclusion (as a significant component of the evidentiary basis) because it is within the expert conclusion that a forensic expert provides information that he/she identified during the investigation and utilizes specific expertise that the investigator may not have possessed.

Риски безопасности: современное состояние государственного управления

The problem of state management of security risks in the context of a special military operation and conducting a hybrid war against Russia by NATO forces is actualized; an analysis of individual conditions and factors that form a critical possibility of harming life safety and, in general, the national interests of the Russian Federation is carried out.
 The current state of security risk management is revealed through the analysis of such strategic state documents as the Federal Law «On Security» as amended in 2023, «The Concept of Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation» in 2023, «Strategies for the development of civil defense, protection of the population and territories from emergencies, fire safety and human safety on water facilities for the period up to 2030», the state program of the Russian Federation «Protection of the population and territories from emergency situations, ensuring fire safety and human safety at water bodies» 2023, the Federal Law «On Voluntary Fire Protection» of 2011 with amendments and additions made to it in August 2023.
 Attention is focused on the risks of wartime.
 An express analysis of scientific research in recent years has been carried out. The joint opinion of scientists and experts in the field of civil defense on the existence of problems in legislative activity requiring prompt resolution has been revealed.
 Using the example of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia, some practical results of the state's management activities are shown, as well as the importance of changes in the Federal Law «On Voluntary Fire Protection" to activate the volunteer movement and minimize fire safety risks with the participation of the population.

Общественное доверие как управленческий ресурс в системе органов внутренних дел

The object of the problem studied in the article is public trust in the internal affairs bodies of the Russian Federation. The subject of the study is public trust as a resource that police leaders can use in managerial activities to achieve the goals of the territorial bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia. An interdisciplinary approach combining sociological science and management sciences is used as a research methodology. Systemic, structural-functional, and communication approaches and the theory of resource dependence have made it possible to comprehensively consider the key role of a public trust resource in improving the effectiveness of the police. The article notes that the system of internal affairs bodies consists of organizations characterized by the presence of a management structure and coordinated actions of people focused on achieving a common goal. Turning to the theory of resource dependence, the author notes that the achievement of the goals of territorial internal affairs bodies depends on such an external resource as the public trust of citizens. The use of a public trust resource allows the police to minimize the antisocial behavior of citizens, establish relations of cooperation with citizens living in the serviced territory, and build a partnership model of relations with civil society institutions. The paper presents the author's structure of the phenomenon of public trust, which includes institutional and interpersonal trust. The blocks of interpersonal trust consist of trust acquired in the process of primary socialization, trust acquired by experience (personal interaction), and trust based on social reality. The author notes that public trust is the specific resource that ensures the effectiveness of the activities of the internal affairs bodies and, at the same time, needs targeted managerial influence from the law enforcement structure. The main directions of the police to strengthen public trust include: the expansion of propaganda work among children; the involvement of the younger generation in volunteer movements; the development of the cadet movement; and the creation of a new approach to the implementation of information policy in the Internet space.

Mobilization of the Empty Box Volunteer Movement to Face the Single Candidate in the 2020 Pilkada of Humbang Hasundutan Regency, North Sumatra Province

This article aims to find out about the mobilization of the empty box movement facing a single candidate in the Humbang Hasundutan Regional Election, North Sumatra Province in 2020. The problem focuses on the emergence of the empty box volunteer movement in the Humbang Hasundutan Regional Election in 2020. In order to approach this problem, theoretical references from Edwards and McCarthy are used, namely Resource Mobilization theory. Data was collected through in-depth interviews and triangulation as well as literature review and analyzed qualitatively. This study concludes that the emergence of Empty Box Volunteers in Humbang Hasundutan, which was initiated by the Humbang Hasundutan Democracy Care Forum, was caused by the disappointment of elements of society with political parties which were considered to be harming democracy because they limited the choice of regional head candidates.

Volunteer Bands and Local Identity in Caithness at the Time of the Second Reform Act

Caithness lay outside the national railway network in 1868, but as this article demonstrates, used the band music of its local volunteer military units, embedded within a wider contemporary British context of imperial music-making, as a means to express and shape local political identities. The second Reform Act of 1867, enacted in Scotland by the Representation of the People (Scotland) Act 1868, prompted wider reimagining about what it meant to be a citizen of Scotland and Britain. Regular references to civic bands in contemporary newspapers and carefully posed photographs in local archives provide evidence for the popularity of Silver and Brass bands connected with the Caithness Volunteer movement. As they marched around towns, villages and countryside, especially around the time of the national elections and local by-elections of 1868-9, their music created powerfully affective soundscapes that connected traditional local identities with the modern British fiscal-military state, helping people to imagine their place as citizens in a period of widening political engagement. The county’s band music provides a microhistory that allows exploration of contrasts between rural and civic patterns of political behaviour in this period.

The formation of volunteer movements in Russia: development problems and dynamics

The research is determined by the fact that the role of social movements in the modern world is increasing due to the deterioration of the socio-economic and political situations. Today, the global economic crisis has a negative impact on the condition of the most vulnerable segments of the population. The global community sees the potential in volunteer organizations to provide assistance where it is urgently needed: from healthcare to emergency response. The problem of the research is that volunteering turned out to be a new phenomenon that requires legal and public support for Russia in the post-Soviet period. In the research the methods of sociocultural analysis were used based on scientific literature and regulatory sources, statistical data on the work of volunteer organizations in Russia, both at federal and regional levels. The key conclusion is the need for public recognition and financial incentives for non-profit public organizations involved in volunteering. The state must regulate the legal framework for the activities of NPOs, develop and adopt a unified set of legal norms for application at the federal and regional levels of government. At the same time, it cannot be denied that volunteer movements are already playing one of the cool roles in the formation of patriotism, socially oriented consciousness and the education of the younger generation.

The role of volunteering in the career development of young people (based on data from the author’s research)

The article highlights the phenomenon of volunteering and the volunteer movement, sets out its interpretation, taking into account domestic research on this issue. The article contains the results of the author's sociological research (Republic of Tatarstan, 2023): a mass questionnaire survey of volunteers (14-35 years old), which allows us to identify the practices implemented by young people in volunteer activities, as well as the position and prospects of this area in the region. Conclusions have been formulated about the close connection between the altruistic desires to help and transform society and the material and career needs of the young volunteers themselves.