Conference: All of us are burdens and carriers - organized by Evangelilckou teologickou fakultou UK a Psychosociálním intevenčním týmem ČR
Abstract
Requested contribution at the conference "We are all burdens and carriers: pandemic, tornado, war", in which I described the role of volunteering in society, and what exactly is volunteering? Where does it come from and how much is it connected to civil society?
I briefly described the historical development of civil society with an accent on the Czech environment, when the development of a modern civic-conscious society was parallel to the national revival. The development of civil society in the Czech lands in Austria-Hungary was always linked to the question of nationality, and Czech and German civil society developed in parallel. This duality of civil society lasted until the Second World War, and copied the Czech-German question. It was only "solved" by the expulsion of the Germans on the basis of the Beneš decrees. In the existing Czech literature focusing on civil society studies, only the development of the Czech, i.e. national, civil society is reflected, and its parallel German part is neglected.
I then established the level of involvement of volunteers as a basic prerequisite for the emergence of civil society in the Czech environment, regardless of whether it was planned formal volunteering linked to rich associational activities or informal, linked to the development of local communities. Just like the entire historical development of civil society in the Czech lands, the involvement of volunteers in its construction is a "double-track" Czech-German one.
In conclusion, I determined that without volunteers, the creation and development of civil society, or of the civil sector (i.e. associations, etc.) was not possible at all. Thanks to the current approach of the non-profit sector to the business sector, which is also due to the new Civil Code (non-profit organizations can run a business, accumulate profit, etc.), this irreplaceable role of volunteers can often be forgotten.
In the afternoon, I led a working group where we tried to define where a volunteer "comes from"? What are its basic motivations and what are the motivations and prerequisites of community citizens to actively participate in public life, including helping others?