Contribution short abstract:

Based on an ethnographic study of the civic initiative “Friendly Neighbours” (Venligboerne) in Denmark, this paper aims to address questions of definition and translation in the study of activism and vernacular humanitarianism.

Contribution long abstract:

During and after the so-called “summer of migration” in 2015, large numbers of European citizens engaged in activities to welcome and support the refugees who arrived in their countries. While these were active citizens, they rarely considered themselves as activists. They were not necessarily motivated by political issues, but rather by a desire to help and ‘do good’. Accordingly, studies have discussed how to characterise the civilian initiatives that were not social movements in a classical sense, but rather expressions of solidarity. Brkovic (2017) and others have coined the term ‘vernacular humanitarianism’ to describe such grassroots forms of helping others that are embedded in local frameworks of morality and sociality.

This paper will explore how a study of vernacular humanitarian can shed light on the concept of activism. Based on an ethnographic study (2017-2023) of the civic initiative “Friendly Neighbours” (Venligboerne) in Denmark, the paper discusses what it means to be an active Venligbo. It unfolds emic understandings of categories such as “volunteer”, “fellow human being”, “fiery soul” and “friend” and it examines the kinds of activism associated with them. By combining questions of activism with perspectives on temporality and care, it also explores how the categories entail and produce different kinds of relationships to newly arrived refugees. On a more general level, the paper aims to address questions of definition and translation in the study of activism and vernacular humanitarianism.