
Beneath the Surface: Spontaneous Volunteering and Its Perceived Role in Shaping Community Resilience in National Defence
References
- Advisory Board for Defence Information. (2024). Finns’ opinions on foreign and security policy, national defence and security. Ministry of Defence.
- Amdal, A. (2022). Civilian and Private Actors’ Support of Ukrainian National Resistance. FFI-note 22/02157. Norwegian Defence Research Establishment.
- Asmolov, G. (2022). The transformation of participatory warfare: The role of narratives in connective mobilization in the Russia–Ukraine war. Digital War, 3(1–3), 25–37. 10.1057/s42984-022-00054-5
- Asmolov, G. (2024).
The Agents of Resilience: Generativity and Durability of Digital Platforms in Crisis-to-Crisis Transition . In A. Diers-Lawson, A. Schwarz, F. Meissner, & S. Ravazzani (Eds.), Risk and Crisis Communication in Europe: Towards Integrating Theory and Practice in Unstable and Turbulent Times (pp. 68–94). Routledge. - Berkes, F., & Ross, H. (2013). Community Resilience: Toward an Integrated Approach. Society & Natural Resources, 26(1), 5–20. 10.1080/08941920.2012.736605
- Boichak, O. (2017). Battlefront Volunteers: Mapping and Deconstructing Civilian Resilience Networks in Ukraine. Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Social Media & Society, article 3, 1–10. 10.1145/3097286.3097289
- Boichak, O., & McKernan, B. (2024). Narratives of Volunteering and Social Change in Wartime Ukraine. Cultural Sociology, 18(1), 48–71. 10.1177/17499755221127877
- Bukkvoll, T. (2019). Fighting on behalf of the state – The issue of progovernment militia autonomy in the Donbas war. Post-Soviet Affairs, 35(4), 293–307. 10.1080/1060586X.2019.1615810
- Carius, C., Graw, J., & Schultz, C. (2024). Achieving Organizationality in Large-Scale Crises: A Comparative Case Study on the Communicative Constitution of Spontaneous Volunteer Collectives. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly. 10.1177/08997640241233726
- Channell-Justice, E. (2024).
Responses to dispossession: Self-organization and the state . In C. Wanner (Ed.), Dispossession: Anthropological Perspectives on Russia’s War Against Ukraine (pp. 188–207). Routledge. 10.4324/9781003382607-12 - Cnaan, R., Meijs, L., Brudney, J., Langloh, S., Okada, A., & Abu Rumman, S. (2022). You Thought That This Would Be Easy? Seeking an Understanding of Episodic Volunteering. Voluntas, 33, 415–427. 10.1007/s11266-021-00329-7
- Domaradzki, J., Walkowiak, D., Bazan, D., & Baum, E. (2022). Volunteering in the front line of the Ukrainian refugee crisis: A brief report from Poland. Frontiers in Public Health, 10(979751), 1–11. 10.3389/fpubh.2022.979751
- Dunn, E., & Kaliszewska, I. (2023). Distributed humanitarianism: Volunteerism and aid to refugees during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. American Ethnologist, 50(1), 19–29. 10.1111/amet.13138
- Fedinec, C. (2023).
The Ukrainian Civil Volunteer Movement during Wartime (2014–2022) . In B. Madlovics & B. Magyar (Eds.), Ukraine’s patronal democracy and the Russian invasion (pp. 331–352). Central European University Press. 10.1515/9789633866641-013 - Finnish Government. (2025). Security Strategy for Society Government resolution. Finnish Government.
- Fomina, J., & Pachocka, M. (2024). Polish society’s initial responses to the arrival of forced migrants from Ukraine in early 2022. Canadian Foreign Policy Journal, 30(1), 52–64. 10.1080/11926422.2024.2310245
- Friede, A. M. (2025). “Security, first of all, begins at home”: How Finland, Latvia, and Germany prepare “ordinary people” for crises. European Policy Analysis, 11, 114–137. 10.1002/epa2.1229
- Graneheim, U. H., Lindgren, B.-M., & Lundman, B. (2017). Methodological challenges in qualitative content analysis: A discussion paper. Nurse education today, 56, 29–34. 10.1016/j.nedt.2017.06.002
- Harris, M., Shaw, D., Scully, J., Smith, C. M., & Hieke, G. (2017). The involvement/exclusion paradox of spontaneous volunteering: New lessons and theory from winter flood episodes in England. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 46(2), 352–371. 10.1177/0899764016654222
- Hayoz, N., & Stepanenko, V. (2023). The social organization of war: Ukrainian and Russian societies mobilized for war. Soziale Systeme, 28(2), 341–371. 10.1515/sosys-2023-0013
- Hyvönen, A.-E., & Juntunen, T. (2021).
From “spiritual defence” to robust resilience in the Finnish comprehensive security model . In S. Larsson & M. Rhinard (Eds.), Nordic Societal Security Convergence and Divergence (pp. 154–178). Routledge. 10.4324/9781003045533-11 - Johansson, R. (2024). The assembling process of outsider volunteers during disasters. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 106, 104393. 10.1016/j.ijdrr.2024.104408
- Jonsson, E., Salo, M., Lillemäe, E., Steder, F. B., Ferst, T., Kasearu, K., Novagrockiene, J., Österberg, J., Sederholm, T., Svensén, S., Szvircsev Tresch, T., & Truusa, T.-T. (2024). Multifaceted Conscription: A Comparative Study of Six European Countries. Scandinavian Journal of Military Studies, 7(1), 19–33. 10.31374/sjms.166
- Kallio, H., Pietilä, A. M., Johnson, M., & Kangasniemi, M. (2016). Systematic methodological review: Developing a framework for a qualitative semi-structured interview guide. Journal of advanced nursing, 72(12), 2954–2965. 10.1111/jan.13031
- Kamionka, M. (2023).
Local Humanitarian Volunteerism in the Time of Full-Scale Russo-Ukrainian War on the Example of an Polish Informal Group “Olkusz Helps Ukraine” . In K. A. Gajda & A. Z. Nowak (Eds.), University and War in Ukraine (pp. 210–222). Peter Lang. - Khoma, N. (2022). Public activism of the war period: structure, forms and possibilities. Social Space, 23(1), 81–103.
- Kosonen, J. (2019). Kansalaiset sotilaina ja maan puolustajina – Asevelvollisten sitoutuminen maanpuolustukseen ja sen eri tehtäviin [Citizens as soldiers and defenders of the nation – The commitment of conscripts to national defense and its various roles]. National Defence University.
- Kosonen, J., & Mälkki, J. (2022).
The Finnish Model of Conscription: A Successful Policy to Organize National Defence . In C. De la Porte, G. Björk Eydal, J. Kauko, D. Nohrstedt, P. Hart, & B. S. Tranøy, (Eds.), Successful Public Policy in the Nordic Countries – Cases, Lessons, Challenges (pp. 456–473). Oxford University Press. 10.1093/oso/9780192856296.003.0022 - Kosonen, J., Puustinen, A., & Tallberg, T. (2019a). Maanpuolustustahdosta maanpuolustussuhteeseen – siviilipalvelusmiesten ja reservistä eroavien kokemuksia asevelvollisuudesta ja hyvinvointivaltiosta [From willingness to defend to the defense relationship – Experiences of persons performing non-military service and reservists leaving the armed forces regarding conscription and the welfare state]. Sosiologia, 56(3), 300–319.
- Kosonen, J., Puustinen, A., & Tallberg, T. (2019b). Saying no to military service – obligation, killing and inequality as experienced problems in conscription army. Journal of Military Studies, 8, 46–57. 10.2478/jms-2019-0005
- Kruse, S., Abeling, T., Deeming, H., Fordham, M., Forrester, J., Jülich, S., Karanci, A. N., Kuhlicke, C., Pelling, M., Pedoth, L., & Schneiderbauer, S. (2017). Conceptualizing community resilience to natural hazards – the emBRACE framework. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, 17, 2321–2333. 10.5194/nhess-17-2321-2017
- Madryha, T., Bilousov, Y., Zubrytska, L., Teremtsova, N., & Druchek, O. (2023). The role of the volunteer movement in the security policy of the state in the context of military operations. Amazonia Investiga, 12(66), 326–334. 10.34069/AI/2023.66.06.30
- McLennan, B., Kruger, T., Handmer, J., & Whittaker, J. (2017). Strategies for non-traditional emergency volunteers: A risk-benefit framework for decision-making. RMIT University & the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC.
- McLennan, B., Whittaker, J., & Handmer, J. (2016). The changing landscape of disaster volunteering: Opportunities, responses and gaps in Australia. Natural Hazards, 84(3), 2031–2048. 10.1007/s11069-016-2532-5
- Mikheieva, O., & Kuznetsova, I. (2024). War-time volunteering and population displacement: From spontaneous help to organised volunteering in post-2014 Ukraine. Voluntary Sector Review, 15(1), 74–91. 10.1332/20408056Y2023D000000009
- Mulligan, M., Steele, W., Rickards, L., & Fünfgeld, H. (2016). Keywords in planning: what do we mean by “community resilience”? International Planning Studies, 21(4), 348–361. 10.1080/13563475.2016.1155974
- Oleinik, A. (2018). Volunteers in Ukraine: From provision of services to state- and nation-building. Journal of Civil Society, 14(4), 364–385. 10.1016/j.ijdrr.2022.103413
- Paciarotti, C., Cesaroni, A., & Bevilacqua, M. (2018). The management of spontaneous volunteers: A successful model from a flood emergency in Italy. International journal of disaster risk reduction, 31, 260–274. 10.1016/j.ijdrr.2018.05.013
- Phillips, R. J., Beer, O. W. J., & Maleku, A. (2023). Conceptualizing and operationalizing community resilience: A scoping review of the social and health sciences literature. Community Development, 55(2), 174–194. 10.1080/15575330.2023.2225088
- Raisio, H., Niemi, T., Puustinen, A., Kosonen, J., & Valtonen, V. (2025). Co-producing National Defense? Strategic Considerations for Spontaneous Volunteer Involvement. International Journal of Public Sector Management. 10.1108/IJPSM-02-2025-0056
- Raisio, H., Puustinen, A., Lindell, J., Wiikinkoski, T., & Valtonen, V. (2023). Could virtual volunteerism enhance information resilience in a nuclear emergency? The potential role of disaster knowledge workers and virtual emergent groups. Radioprotection, 58(1), 11–18. 10.1051/radiopro/2023003
- Raisio, H., Puustinen, A., Norri-Sederholm, T., & Jalava, J. (2019). “Those who agree to play on our terms will be taken in”: A qualitative study of the perceptions of public authorities and NGO representatives regarding self-organizing fourth-sector activity. Public Administration Quarterly, 43(3): 4–44. 10.1177/073491491904300301
- Riikonen, R., Tallberg, T., Kosonen, J., & Puustinen, A. (2019). Vapaus, velvollisuus ja vastavuoroisuus – käsityksiä kansalaisen suhteesta valtioon ja maanpuolustukseen. [Freedom, Duty and Reciprocity – Perceptions of the Citizen’s Relationship to the Country and National Defence]. Tiede ja ase, 77, 155–186.
https://journal.fi/ta/article/view/88685 . - Robinson, O. C. (2014). Sampling in Interview-Based Qualitative Research: A Theoretical and Practical Guide. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 11(1), 25–41. 10.1080/14780887.2013.801543
- Saressalo, T., & Huhtinen, A.-M. (2018). The Information Blitzkrieg – “Hybrid” Operations Azov Style. The Journal of Slavic Military Studies, 31(4), 423–443. 10.1080/13518046.2018.1521358
- Simsa, R., Rameder, P., Aghamanoukjan, A., & Totter, M. (2019). Spontaneous Volunteering in Social Crises: Self-Organization and Coordination. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 48(2), 103S–122S. 10.1177/0899764018785472
- Stallings, R. A., & Quarantelli, E. L. (1985). Emergent Citizen Groups and Emergency Management. Public Administration Review, 45(special issue), 93–100. 10.2307/3135003
- Twigg, J., & Mosel, I. (2017). Emergent groups and spontaneous volunteers in urban disaster response. Environment & Urbanization, 29(2), 443–458. 10.1177/0956247817721413
- Valtonen, V., & Branders, M. (2021).
Tracing the Finnish Comprehensive Security Model . In S. Larsson & M. Rhinard (Eds.), Nordic Societal Security Convergence and Divergence (pp. 91–108). Routledge. 10.4324/9781003045533-7 - Whittaker, J., McLennan, B., & Handmer, J. (2015). A review of informal volunteerism in emergencies and disasters: Definition, opportunities and challenges. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 13, 358–368. 10.1016/j.ijdrr.2015.07.010
- Wither, J. K. (2020). Back to the future? Nordic total defence concepts. Defence Studies, 20(1), 61–81. 10.1080/14702436.2020.1718498
- Wrange, J., Bengtsson, R., & Brommesson, D. (2024). Resilience through total defence: Towards a shared security culture in the Nordic–Baltic region? European Journal of International Security, 9(4), 511–532. 10.1017/eis.2024.15
- Yang, Z. (2021). Understanding spontaneous volunteering in crisis: towards a needs-based approach of explanation. The Social Science Journal. 10.1080/03623319.2021.1884778
- Yumagulova, L., & Handmer, J. (2021). Introduction to the special issue on unaffiliated volunteering: the universality and importance of volunteering. Environmental Hazards, 20(1), 1–6. 10.1080/17477891.2021.1877606
DOI: https://doi.org/10.31374/sjms.371 | Journal eISSN: 2596-3856
Language: English
Page range: 484 - 502
Submitted on: Dec 13, 2024
Accepted on: Nov 28, 2025
Published on: Dec 12, 2025
Published by: Scandinavian Military Studies
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 1 issue per year
Keywords:
© 2025 Harri Raisio, Tomi Niemi, Alisa Puustinen, Jarkko Kosonen, Vesa Valtonen, published by Scandinavian Military Studies
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.