International volunteering in a changing aidland

Abstract

The growing diversity of North – South international volunteerism challenges the widely accepted distinction between volunteering for development as a long‐standing component of official development assistance and the more recent phenomenon of volunteer tourism as a private sector led commercial endeavour focused primarily on the personal growth of the volunteer. This paper reviews recent research that blurs this distinction by placing international volunteering within the geographical imaginaries of development and the neoliberal practices of governance of aidland. It focuses on four themes tackled in recent research: i) the ways in which neoliberal ideologies have shaped the motivations, goals, practices and governance of international volunteering; ii) the contexts in which international volunteering can foster more equitable relationships between Northern and Southern development actors; iii) what roles emotion and affect play in these relationships, and iv) the extent to which international volunteering can offer a critical perspective on the rules, logics and ideologies of aidland. The main argument is that while neoliberal conceptualisations of development have evidently shaped international volunteering, they do not fully capture the relational and experiential impacts of volunteering. The technologies of proximity afforded by volunteering can lead to critical and transformative insights into development and aidland, particularly when volunteers are embedded in local organisations over a longer time.

The Hidden Contributions of Local Staff When Hosting International Development Volunteers

“…At one end of the spectrum are unskilled "supply-driven" volunteer assignments (e.g., voluntourism, youth volunteering) that tend to prioritize volunteers' interests and convenience with minimal attempt to match volunteers with host-community needs (Sherraden et al, 2006). At the other end of the spectrum are demand-driven IDVs, the focus of this study, defined by volunteers' professional expertise (possessing valued skills and experience), the placement duration (typically long-term, allowing relationships to develop with local colleagues), and objectives that emphasize humanitarian contribution rather than the volunteers' personal development (Schech, 2017).…”

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

“…Changes in practice occurred with an increase in individual citizens and nonspecialists who start or participate in initiatives to take action against perceived need (Roy 2015;Richey and Ponte 2011;Develtere and de Bruyn 2009). This increased private initiatives is reflective of neoliberal times (Vrasti 2013;Schech 2017;Georgeou 2012). In the literature this takes a variety of names like fourth pillar (Develtere and de Bruyn 2009;Jackson 2005), DIY development (McLennan 2017), citizen initiatives (Haaland and Wallevik 2017), MONGOs -My Own NGO (Polman 2010), and Private Development Initiatives (PDIs) (Kinsbergen and Schulpen 2013).…”

Personnel mobility in German non-profit organizations – an institutional perspective

“…Burt and Carr, 2011;Russel and Dickie, 2007), their personal development (e.g. Fee and Gray, 2011;Hudson and Inkson, 2006) and their effectiveness, as well as the challenges of being abroad (Curling and Simmons, 2010;Laleman et al, 2007;Schech, 2017;Selmer and Fenner, 2009;Zhu and Purnell, 2006). Other studies focus on expatriate characteristics and work contexts and highlight expatriates' high intrinsic motivation, expectations, boundaryless career aspirations and protean career attitudes (Andresen et al, 2014;Barrett et al, 2017;Crowley-Henry, 2007;Fee, 2017;Hall, 2004;Siljanen, 2007;Zhu and Purnell, 2006).…”