Education or Exploitation? Examining the Host-Volunteer Dynamic in Rural France

Abstract

Volunteering in a château in a rural French community has become increasingly popular in the past decade, as has foreign château ownership itself. The arrival of volunteer workers in these communities observably changes the local power dynamics.The main objective of this study was to understand the power dynamics at play in the host-volunteer relationship in rural communities. The secondary aim was to understand how the Covid-19 pandemic impacted this relationship, and who benefited from it. The study drew on twelve qualitative, in-depth semi-structed interviews with locals, château owners, and volunteer workers. The interviews took place in rural French communities in September 2022.The results show that the rural communities are impacted by the arrival of foreign château owners, as their decision to use volunteer labour removes potential jobs from the already limited local labour market. The main online platform advertising such volunteer positions do not require the host to provide a detailed account of the kinds of jobs required of the volunteers. The hosts are viewed negatively by the locals as they are perceived as taking advantage of the volunteer workers as free labourers, under the guise of providing ‘educational guidance’. The Covid-19 pandemic was shown to significantly impact the host-volunteer power dynamics, leading to volunteer ‘exploitation’, as the volunteers were given increased responsibilities and had less freedom of movement due to the pandemic. Despite this the volunteers remained positive about their time with the host, as it enabled them to gain new experience in a different country. Both the volunteers and the host were aware of the existing uneven power dynamics, but both remained apparently satisfied with the situation, even during the pandemic.There is a need for increased regulations to prevent volunteer exploitation in rural France. The platforms promoting these opportunities need to adopt different policies that help volunteers make informed decisions and balances out the power dynamics.