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Critique of Volunteer Tourism and We Day - QE
Critique two of the following projects and one of your own in light of this week’s principle question (To what extent can well intended global citizenship initiatives reinforce or resist power inequities) :
Though the thought of wanting to help others is commendable, and the initiative taken to go out and participate in something you believe will better the lives of others is even more so, when that initiative is volunteer tourism the damage often done does the opposite. These journeys, often taken by students looking to gain life experience that will empress potential employers and their peers, reinforce the 'us' and 'them' mentality rather than building meaningful relationships between the tourist and the recipient. It is all to often a case of the 'saviour complex,' where we (the all knowing good do-ers) are saving them (the poor people in the world vision commercials) from an awful life of poverty, rather than empowering the locals of that community to help themselves (for example supporting companies that pay them a living wage), simply reinforcing the preconceived ideas about their culture. What the locals actually want and need is another factor that seems to find itself on the back burner. When a group of volunteers for example decides to build infrastructure such as a school, they not only take away much needed jobs from the locals and customers from local businesses if they bring their own materials, but could be flat out wasting resources if the community doesn't need a school, or doesn't have the resources to fund it after the group has left. While well intended, there is a fundamental lack of understanding of what communities truly need associated with volunteer tourism, and unfortunately this unsustainable expression of global citizenship is put on a pedestal by the event We Day.
We Day, seen as the pinnacle of youth activism, seeks to bring together and inspire young leaders with the potential to make change in the global community. However, the so called 'inspirational material' is divided between very well produced corporate sponsor commercials depicting the charitable actions of such humanitarian organizations like the Keg and Telus, and video narratives of attractive white teens taking part in one of their 4,000 dollar volunteer trips (hence the support of volunteer-tourism). Very little time is spent talking about hard woking individuals or groups who are doing truly incredible things, and with the constant social media pushers telling you how to act, it prevents any meaningful conversations surrounding global citizenship that may have been had. Though they say every little thing counts, by emphasizing voluntourism and action through social media, it gives the impression of 'go big or go home, or click like.' Time could be spent discussing the importance of global citizenship and how you can be one in your every day life by your power as a consumer and a citizen (voter), but they opt out for a lesson of 'Free the Children' makes a really good travel agency combined with the inspiration that low-risk low-reward activism (repost if you hate malaria; for every app downloaded we'll vaccinate a child) will save the world.
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2 Comment(s)
Hi Jamie,
Thanks for your post regarding the unquestioned ethics and implications of voluntourism. I've participated in volunteer and humanitarian trips abroad during my undergraduate degree in Uganda and Ghana and for me inter-cultural awareness and knowledge of the host country PRIOR to departure, on the part of voluntourists, is essential or the exacerbation of socio-cultural divisions, misconceptions and prejudices can be reinforced through such activities. Voluntourists must be extra conscious of how their actions and interactions are perceived in the communities they travel. Can you think of any actions by voluntourists when travelling abroad that might reinforce power inequalities or differences?
I like that you mentioned the idea of the "saviour complex." I think this idea accurately demonstrates how the perceived moral supremacy of the "privileged do-gooders" blinds them from seeing how their activities might actually have damaging effects in the contexts they intend to serve. With this in mind, do you think voluntourism is a modern form of colonialism?
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Hi Jamie,
Good job for the blog post. I would like to give some arguments in favour of your opposition, in order to have multiple perspectives, as I did with the Kenya Project comment. I think that volunteer trips have a very useful role in cultivating long-term engagement and compassion in developed-world youths. As they grow older, I think that having such an experience motivates you to donate more of your time and money into good causes, because it leaves a strong impression on you. This motivation is good because people can often lose track of the impact of their volunteerism -- if they have this vivid memory, they are more likely to give when they are in their middle age (and able to donate a lot more money than during their teens) if they understand the impact.
Also, I think that engaging people in We Day-like events to get students engaged is without a doubt getting more donations to developing-world countries than if such popular, although diluted, events did not exist. There are a lot of teens who come mainly for the appeal of We Day, and stay engaged in volunteerism as an active donor / global citizen.
I do agree that the developing-world community should be given schools that are designed and built with full community engagement, and cultural context. I also agree that materials should be locally bought, and sustainability should be designed into the project.
Cheers,
Alex Cui
Hi Alex,
Thanks for your post. Do you think charitable donations are the most effective and sustainable way to support human development in low-income countries? How do you think foreign charity and hand-outs might reinforce power inequalities? Just curious what your thoughts are, or if, you can think of any alternatives to the charity model.
Curtis Riep
Feb 17, 2015