The publicness of voluntary action during crisis: From resilience mechanisms to resistance tactics

Although the volunteerism approach is regarded as a helpful strategy,critical concerns arise regarding the dynamics of vulnerability and thepublicness of disaster-affected communities’ collective action. Thisstudy aims to examine the publicness meaning of public interest andits function in enhancing resilience capacity through voluntary action.Using a hermeneutic approach, this study investigates the collectiveaction of “Canthelan” food sharing within the environmental structureof the Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia, during the COVID-19outbreak. The findings indicate that voluntary action in the context of“Canthelan” is a response to crises accumulated by the pandemic’ssocioeconomic threat, the emergence of societal vulnerabilities, andthe failure of social protection policies. Voluntary action functions asan alternative resilience mechanism for vulnerable and disadvantagedcommunities by providing access to and control over food resources inan egalitarian interaction space. Simultaneously, the constructedmechanisms become structurally aggregated knowledge narrativesand manifestations of contestation concerning the development ofresilience. Voluntary action mechanisms contribute to the develop-ment of social resilience through the mediation process, which isa process of mutual support and interaction to face and adapt tothreats. However, the deterministic view of power authority hindersthe transformative capacity of voluntary action.