Volunteering for development: making selves and building citizenship in Sierra Leone (upd 02/21)

How have experiences of volunteering during the Ebola crisis shaped young peoples understandings of voluntary action? Within this question and with an understanding that experiences of volunteering can offer insights on citizenship, identity, and forms of belonging this research will explore how volunteering has shaped young peoples:
1 identity and understanding of citizenship
2 relationships with larger collectives, such as civil society and the state.

This research will provide a novel, empirical contribution to literature on youth and volunteering within the context of crisis response. Methodologically, the narrative approach will position young people and their stories at the heart of the research process, providing depth to youth policy focused around active citizenship and volunteering. In the context of the current decline in aid spending, the move to voluntary responses to crisis and development more broadly represents an important turn in the development and humanitarian sectors. This research will provide an empirical basis for this voluntary turn, allowing us to explore its broader implications.