Development encounters in international development volunteerism in Guatemala: Quiet encroachments in global street politics

Abstract

Neoliberal policies alter development funding, practice, and actors. One effect of this is an increase in untrained individuals from the Global North who travel to the Global South to take action against perceived needs. This paper examines international development volunteerism (IDV) in Antigua, Guatemala. Scholars have documented the problematic nature of both volunteers and development projects; yet the relationships between actors are under theorized. I examine the development encounter: a space where people from the Global North and South meet briefly through development work. This space enables an examination of transnational actors who experience divergent impacts of neoliberal restructuring, and of unnoticed activities that could be indicators for social change. I ask: can development encounters shift perspectives to open the possibilities for social change? Through qualitative research, I show that everyday encounters in IDV can both open and close possibilities to catalyze social change. I make three contributions. First, I address a gap through an analysis of everyday relationships of multiple actors in development. Second, I propose that the development encounter is a productive space to examine changes between transnational actors. Development encounters in IDV projects are both a continuation of problematic development interventions in the Global South and also a space to examine the potential to eventually build solidarities across difference and distance. Lastly, I extended Bayat’s (2010) theories on social nonmovements to actors from the Global North and Global South to argue that their everyday actions are quiet encroachments in global street politics, or the silent actions of noncollective actors to generate change. I argue that development encounters can open possibilities to make a difference for people because strangers meet through projects; and also, it closes possibilities because it makes a difference between people since it is a commodified space with inequalities of power and wealth.

‘Giving back’ through mobility trajectories: motivations for engaging in development encounters in Ghana among transnational youth

“…These optimistic views inspired a boom in empirical studies around the migration and development nexus and comprehensive policy frameworks on co-development. Yet, while much attention has been paid to the contributions of the diaspora to the ‘homeland’, which range from private transfers to single households, to community development projects, less attention has been paid to what transpires during ‘development encounters’, as a space where transnational actors meet through development work (Riddering 2020 ). In fact, most scholars privilege the perspective of the country where migrants are living and rely on their verbal accounts.…”

Space, Time and Structure: Unpacking Relationships in International Development Volunteering

“…Being at the margins of structured spaces, transition spaces offer moments where volunteers and local could come together, temporarily shed hierarchical roles and work responsibilities, and reimagine their relationships in more horizontal ways. Far from being spaces that take time away from development work, transition and social spaces can be more transformative (Riddering, 2020), facilitating a different kind of impact, one that is more about cross-cultural connections than tangible outputs and outcomes. These informal relationships augment inclusive partnerships and result in better development impact (Chen, 2018).…”

“…Informal interactions occur in both work and non-workspaces. Riddering (2020: 4) describes ‘everyday encounters’ as the ‘unseen, unplanned, unexpected activities that can be more transformative than the planned activities’. Riddering gives the example of the ‘hallways of NGO offices’ where volunteers and locals are not strictly working but are still in the workplace.…”

“…Transition spaces function as ‘third spaces’, ‘intersections of the agency of the volunteer… and members of the host community’ that offered ‘ways to overcome the structure of the dominant hegemony’ (Zahra and McGehee, 2013: 23). These unexpected encounters (Riddering, 2020) draw volunteers and local participants closer, building rapport and contributing to the learning engagements in the structured workshop spaces.…”

“…The discussion on volunteer–local relationships is nonetheless located mainly in development spaces where ‘work’ takes place (Laurie and Baillie Smith, 2018; Schech et al, 2015). Spaces of the ‘everyday encounter’ or informal interactions are less frequently discussed but are not necessarily less important (Riddering, 2020). Taking a spatial and grounded approach, this article demonstrates that the question of how relationships form cannot be fully answered without asking where (and when) they form.…”