Exploring the frames of altruistic action. A comparative analysis of volunteers' engagement in British and French pro-asylum charities

在过去的几十年里，在寻求庇护者和难民的生活条件变得越来越困难的背景下，许多慈善机构致力于支持欧洲各地的这些群体。这些组织的大部分活动依靠志愿者的参与，志愿者参与利他主义行动，如：在获得服务（住房、学校、福利等）方面的法律的援助、咨询和支持，语言或教育支助（特别是儿童支助）、筹资、治疗或道义支助。这项研究的重点是参与支持寻求庇护者和难民的志愿人员的情况，以探讨在集体行动文献中尚未充分探讨的问题。该研究项目旨在分析是什么促使志愿者参与支持寻求庇护者和难民的慈善机构，以及他们如何定义他们的参与和反思他们的经验。特别是，这项研究想要分析这些行为者是否以及如何区分利他主义行动和社会或政治抗议。在这样做的时候，它试图探讨如何构建和谈判不同形式的社会参与之间的边界。该项目还旨在分析公众对这些问题的辩论和政策如何反映在支持寻求庇护者和难民的参与形式中。该项目基于比较方法和定性研究方法：我们将采访140名志愿者，他们具有不同的个人资料，并在两个对比环境（英国和法国）中活跃。我们还将采访活跃在这两个国家的主要支持庇护的慈善机构的主要代表，我们将分析新闻报道和慈善机构的档案。我们将在伦敦、伯明翰、谢菲尔德、巴黎、里昂和里尔-加莱地区进行这一实证研究。这将使我们能够深入分析人们为什么以及如何参与利他主义行动，以支持寻求庇护者和难民。这也将使我们能够分析志愿人员的生活轨迹和个人价值观、支持庇护的慈善机构的组织文化、志愿工作的国家文化、民间社会行为者与公共当局之间的关系，以及移民和庇护政治导致个人以不同的方式定义他们的参与。这种方法和这些方法将为我们提供新的数据和视角与利他主义、团结、人性、关怀或同情有关的想法是如何构建和体验的。它们还将使我们能够就移民和庇护领域的政策和公开辩论在民间社会中的后果形成独到的观点。这项研究是及时的背景下，激烈的辩论和移民和庇护政策的快速变化，无论是在国家和欧盟层面。在民间社会组织资金短缺的情况下，这也是及时的。

Over the last decades, in a context in which the living conditions of asylum seekers and refugees are becoming increasingly difficult, many charities have dedicated themselves to the support of these groups across Europe. A large part of the activities of these organisations depends on the involvement of volunteers who participate in altruistic actions such as: legal aid, advice and support in terms of access to services (housing, schools, welfare, etc.), language or educational support (in particular children's support), fundraising, therapeutic or moral support. This study focuses on the case of the volunteers engaged in the support of asylum seekers and refugees in order to explore questions which remain underexplored in the literature on collective action. This research project seeks to analyse what motivates volunteers to engage with charities that support asylum seekers and refugees, as well as how they define their engagement and reflect upon their experience. In particular, the study wants to analyse whether and how these actors distinguish between altruistic action and social or political protest. In doing so, it seeks to explore how the frontiers between different forms of engagement in society are constructed and negotiated. Looking at immigration and asylum politics 'from below', it also aims to analyse how public debates and policies on these issues are reflected in the forms of engagement in support of asylum seekers and refugees.The project is based on a comparative approach and on qualitative research methods: we will interview 140 volunteers with different profiles and who are active in two contrasted contexts (Britain and France). We will also interview key representatives of the main pro-asylum charities active in these two countries, and we will analyse press reports and charities' archives. We will undertake this empirical research in the cities of London, Birmingham, Sheffield, Paris, Lyon, and in the region of Lille-Calais. This will allow us to develop an in-depth analysis of why and how people engage in altruistic action in support of asylum seekers and refugees. This will also enable us to analyse whether differences in terms of the life trajectories and personal values of volunteers, of organisational cultures of pro-asylum charities, of national cultures of volunteering, of relations between civil society actors and public authorities, as well as of immigration and asylum politics lead individuals to define their engagement in different ways.This approach and these methods will give us new data and perspectives on the ways ideas that relate to altruism, solidarity, humanity, care, or compassion are constructed and experienced. They will also enable us to develop original perspectives on the consequences in civil society of policies and public debates in the field of immigration and asylum. This research is timely in a context of intense debates and rapid policy changes on immigration and asylum, both at the national and EU levels. It is also timely in a context of funding shortages to civil society organisations.