‘Poor children on Tinder’ and their Barbie Saviours: towards a feminist political economy of volunteer tourism

Wearing, Stephen; Mostafanezhad, Mary; Nguyen, Nha Thi Huynh; Nguyen, Truc Ha Thanh; McDonald, Matthew

doi:10.1080/02614367.2018.1504979

Cited by 41 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 74 publications

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“…However, the Instagram account itself can be a valuable object of study to examine the gendered social media practices of voluntourists and the role of humour in critique. Wearing et al (2018) argue that while Barbie Savior is a productive reminder of the symbolic violence of racialized inequality, the critique itself inadvertently "perpetuates the ahistorical and apolitical racial, ethnic, gender and class-based binary thinking that it seeks to condemn" (p.500). Their argument is valid, and perhaps the use of a Barbie doll and stereotypes throughout the critique can be interpreted as unintentionally glossing over certain important issues of race, class, and gender.…”

Section: Social Media and Parodymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Their argument is valid, and perhaps the use of a Barbie doll and stereotypes throughout the critique can be interpreted as unintentionally glossing over certain important issues of race, class, and gender. Wearing et al (2018) contend that their analysis of popular critiques of voluntourism through the lens of Barbie as "White Saviour" provides a starting point for more nuanced interpretation of media criticism of voluntourists (p.510). They also call for more sustained analysis of gender, race, and class in the voluntourism industry and its encounters (Wearing et al, 2018, p.510).…”

Section: Social Media and Parodymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Barbie Savior : Politicizing Voluntourism Through Instagram Parody

Vydelingum¹

2022

Preprint

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This Major Research Paper explores the Barbie Savior parody Instagram account to understand how the account attempts to politicize voluntourist/local relationships and how its posts constitute a strategy of social critique. Barbie Savior Instagram posts parody the white saviour complex enacted by short term missionaries who post their volunteer experiences on social media. A mixed methods approach provides quantitative and qualitative insights into how this intersectional critique addresses the phenomenon of voluntourist selfies on Instagram that promote a self-brand centered on touristic and religious authenticity through strategic use of captions and hashtags. Key words: Voluntourism; Short Term Missions; Instagram; Parody; White Saviour Complex; Authenticity

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Section: Social Media and Parodymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Social Media and Parodymentioning

confidence: 99%

Barbie Savior : Politicizing Voluntourism Through Instagram Parody

Vydelingum¹

2022

Preprint

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“…This was not intentional, but is emblematic of broader trends. Scholars estimate that 75% of volunteers are women (Wearing et al 2018). Three of the volunteers were white North Americans, one was Indian-American, and one Portuguese-Australian.…”

Section: Stories Of Nonmovements In Volunteerismmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Third, this encounter could be a closing to change, as it could reproduce binaries of north/south, guest/host, and active/passive. As Wearing et al (2018) point out, the volunteer experience has neocolonial tendencies, and the tendency to construct hierarchies between people. For example, the volunteers and many foreign nonprofit employees work illegally on tourist visas in Guatemala because the state does not offer short term work visas, yet unlike other transnational migrants they suffer no harassment for this activity.…”

Section: Quiet Encroachment In Global Street Politicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Riddering

2020

Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space

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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.

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“…There is a tacit notion within voluntourism of the savior and the saved, in which the savior hails from the Global North, and the saved from the Global South (Conran, 2011). The idea of the "white savior" has permeated popular media and is even satirized on the popular Instagram account "Barbie Savior" (Wearing et al, 2018). Mostafanezhad (2013) identifies popular celebrity Angelina Jolie as a white savior archetype and examines how images of her caring for darker-skinned children have been recreated by noncelebrity Western women across social media platforms.…”

Section: A Geography Of Needmentioning

confidence: 99%

As Good As Woke?: Mutuality And Third Spaces In A Guatemalan Volunteer Tourism Organization

Gdalman¹

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‘Poor children on Tinder’ and their Barbie Saviours: towards a feminist political economy of volunteer tourism

Cited by 41 publications

References 74 publications

Barbie Savior : Politicizing Voluntourism Through Instagram Parody

Barbie Savior : Politicizing Voluntourism Through Instagram Parody

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

As Good As Woke?: Mutuality And Third Spaces In A Guatemalan Volunteer Tourism Organization

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