The spatial imaginaries of international volunteer teachers: Contrapuntal and disconnected geographies

Abstract

Scholars argue that international volunteering must not be framed as altruism or charity; rather, it should invoke themes from decolonial justice theorizing. Volunteers who have benefited from colonial-imperial structural advantages should understand their labor as a kind of reparation for ongoing structural dispossession. I argue that spatial imaginaries are central to this project. Volunteers can better situate themselves with decolonial intentionality if they adopt what Edward Said called contrapuntal theories of geography. The volunteer orientation phase is the best time to instill this spatial imaginary. This study analyzes how volunteers theorize “home” and “away” as they become teachers in Namibia. Drawing from a “netnographic” discourse analysis of their public blogs, I find that volunteers are likely to subscribe to a geographical imaginary of atomized and disconnected spaces, lacking the conceptual tools needed to grapple with decolonial justice and to implement dues-paying volunteering in their classrooms.

Progress in volunteer tourism research: From niche tourism curiosity to experience-based improvements

“…According to the author, no matter if help is called a "gift" or a "partnership", all parties are aware of previously existing social relations of inequity, in which the "receiver" is a debtor who cannot reciprocate in other ways than being grateful. Doerr (2017) and also Henry (2021) recommend that those who are burdened with the history of their colonial ancestors should provide service in the idea of "paying dues" for existing inequalities instead of providing help motivated by "altruism".…”