ABSTRACT
Civic engagement can be seen as a potential space for—mostly informal—learning and political subjectification. This chapter explores learning processes of volunteers in refugee relief by discussing selected results of a qualitative empirical study which was conducted in Austria. The analysis is framed by theoretical approaches of transformative and civic learning and looks specifically at ‘disorienting experiences’ as concrete impulses for learning in the respective field. These experiences resulted from the volunteers’ confrontation with traumatic flight stories as well as from a restrictive migration regime and discourse and its impact on the possibilities of supporting refugees. These experiences were partly different for volunteers with or without personal experiences as migrants. Conclusions for adult education point to the potential of establishing open and experimental learning spaces to accompany volunteers in the process of critical reflection and development.
