Abstract
his article uses a longue-durée approach to discuss volunteering as a practice in Slovenia since
the mid-nineteenth century. It uses an example of volunteer fire departments, one of the old-
est voluntary organizations in the country and asks what firefighters in Slovenia recognized as
voluntary work during the imperial, interwar, and socialist periods? The article looks at wom-
en’s participation in fire departments to investigate whether the gradual inclusion of women
changed perception regarding volunteer work? In particular, the article focuses on the period
of socialist self-management, during which the idea of volunteering was based on the partici-
pation of people in voluntary actions to improve community life with a loose understanding of
individual gains. The chapter argues that while volunteer fire departments notably diversified
their membership, the meaning of volunteering remained linked to a national tradition rooted
in an earlier era when departments consisted exclusively of men who viewed their participation
as unpaid and honorable work.