Abstract
Alternative forms of tourism such as eco-tourism feature prominently in development policy and literature. This article focuses on international volunteer tourism, a specific form of tourism that is closely linked to a range of development projects in low-income countries. This form of ‘tourism with a development agenda’ has become increasingly popular among young people from developed countries. We argue that volunteer tourism both reflects and contributes to a new logic of development. This form of travel can be understood as a particular, neoliberal form of development practice, in which development is not only privatized but can be packaged as a marketable commodity. We focus critically on the process of volunteering and the interactions that take place within this form of tourism, with a focus on the concurrent commercialization of development and cultural difference.
Abstract
Des formes de tourisme alternatif telles que l’éco-tourisme deviennent de plus en plus importantes, tant dans les débats que les pratiques de développement. Cet article s’intéresse au volontariat international, un type de tourisme particulier qui se déroule dans le cadre de projets de développement variés dans les pays en voie de développement. Cette forme de ‘tourisme pour le développement’ devient de plus en plus populaire parmi les jeunes des pays développés. Nous soutenons que cette forme de tourisme reflète et contribue à une nouvelle logique de développement. Ce type de voyage peut être vu comme une forme particulière, néolibérale de développement, dans laquelle celui-ci est non seulement privatisé, mais est aussi présenté comme un produit commercialisable. Nous examinons de manière critique ce processus de volontariat, ainsi que les interactions qui en découlent, en nous penchant particulièrement sur la question de la commercialisation du développement et des différences culturelles.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
It might be argued that definitions of volunteers are inherently problematic in their implication that volunteers represent a given, bounded and homogenous social group. This article is an attempt for more attention to the dynamic process in which volunteers construct their social identities. Definitions of volunteers and volunteer tourism do, however, point to ideal types which can influence volunteers themselves. Although their volunteer identities are constructed in and through the volunteer encounter – as prior to involvement in volunteer work, the volunteer may be a tourist, a backpacker or a Spanish-language student – these ideas have an important influence on the process of their identity formation.
We use the distinction between developing and developed countries with some caution, as it is exactly the centrality and construction of this dichotomy within volunteer projects (and beyond) that we wish to scrutinize.
All names of organizations, volunteers and beneficiaries used here are pseudonyms. The work of the three organizations is, to varying degrees, informed by Christian beliefs.
Participant observation is not so much about speaking from an insider/outsider perspective as about reflecting on the participation in the construction of the field. Through the field a researcher forms part of the social relations he or she describes (Atkinson, 1992, p. 9). It is crucial for any researcher to understand and reflect on the way research was conducted and what her role was. According to Mand (2004, p. 37), awareness of the ‘self’ in fieldwork can be a significant analytical tool in understanding interlocutors’ ideas, notions or perceptions; in addition, ‘the “self” as informant and as a mediator between one and another cultural context moves away from the fantasy of an objective neutral fieldworker’.
Política Nacional para el Desarrollo Turístico Sostenible de Guatemala 2004–2014.
Interview, 19/02/2008.
Interview, 22/01/2008.
Interview, 24/01/2008.
http://www.travellersworldwide.com/, visited on 15/06/2008.
http://www.volunteerabroad.com/listingsp3.cfm/listing/28073, visited on 13/02/2009.
http://www.travellersworldwide.com/, visited on 13/02/2009.
http://www.ifrevolunteers.org/internship/teaching_internship.php, visited on 13/02/2009.
http://www.i-to-i.com/make-a-difference.html, visited on 13/02/2009.
The learning experience is also taken for granted. Very few organizations provide space for volunteers to reflect on their experience, their work and the place visited. Pre-volunteer preparation, mid-term evaluations and post-volunteer seminars are even rarer. When there is space for preparations, these mainly rely on models of culture shock and development models of cultural sensitivity, preparing volunteers for integration into a culturally and developmentally completely different society. The construction of cultural and development difference between the developed and developing world remains unquestioned, while similarities between people with diverse cultural, social and religious backgrounds go unmentioned.
Interview, 11/03/2008.
http://www.crossculturalsolutions.org/volunteering-abroad/when/volunteer-vacation.aspx, visited on 13/02/2009.
Interview, 30/01/2008.
Interview, 10/03/2008.
http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=34404680552&topic=5654, viewed on 18 December 2008.
Interview, 19/01/2008.
References
Ashley, C., Roe, D. and Goodwin, H. (2001) Pro-Poor Tourism Strategies: Making Tourism Work for the Poor: A Review of Experience. London: IIED/ODI/CRT.
Atkinson, P. (1992) Understanding Ethnographic Texts. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.
Brohman, J. (1996) New directions in tourism for third world development. Annals of Tourism Research 23 (1): 48–70.
Callanan, M. and Thomas, S. (2005) Volunteer tourism: Deconstructing volunteer activities within a dynamic environment. In: M. Novelli (ed.) Niche Tourism: Contemporary Issues, Trends and Cases. Oxford, UK: Elsevier Butterworth Heinemann, pp. 183–200.
Coghlan, A. (2007) Towards an integrated typology of volunteer tourism organisations. Journal of Sustainable Tourism 15 (3): 267–287.
Cohen, A.P. (2000) Introduction: Discriminating relations: Identity, boundary and authenticity. In: A.P. Cohen (ed.) Signifying Identities: Anthropological Perspectives on Boundaries and Contested Values. London and New York: Routledge, pp. 1–16.
Cohen, E. (1984) The sociology of tourism: Approaches, issues, and findings. Annual Review of Sociology 10: 373–392.
Escobar, A. (1991) Anthropology and the development encounter: The making and marketing of development anthropology. American Ethnologist 18 (4): 658–682.
Escobar, A. (1995) Encountering Development: The Making and Unmaking of the Third World. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Gow, D.D. (1996) The anthropology of development: Discourse, agency, and culture. Anthropological Quarterly 69 (3): 165–173.
Hutnyk, J. (1996) The Rumour of Calcutta: Tourism, Charity and the Poverty of Representation. London and New Jersey: Zed Books.
Little, W.E. (2004) Mayas in the Marketplace: Tourism, Globalization, and Cultural Identity. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.
Lyons, K.D. and Wearing, S. (eds.) (2008) Journeys of Discovery in Volunteer Tourism: International Case Study Perspectives. Wallingford, UK: CABI Publishing.
Mand, K. (2004) ‘Insider’ and ‘outsider’ ambiguities: Social capital, gender and power in the field. In: R. Edwards (ed.) Social Capital in the Field: Researcher's Tales. London: London South Bank University, pp. 35–40.
Manji, F. and O'Coill, C. (2002) The missionary position: NGOs and development in Africa. International Affairs 78 (3): 567–583.
Matthews, A. (2008) Negotiated selves: Exploring the impact of local-global interactions on young volunteer travellers. In: K.D. Lyons and S. Wearing (eds.) Journeys of Discovery in Volunteer Tourism: International Case Study Perspectives. Wallingford, UK: CABI Publishing, pp. 101–117.
McIntosh, A.J. and Zahra, A. (2007) A cultural encounter through volunteer tourism: Towards the ideals of sustainable tourism? Journal of Sustainable Tourism 15 (5): 541–556.
Micheletti, M. (2004) Introduction. In: M. Micheletti, A. Follesdal and D. Stolle (eds.) Politics, Products and Markets: Exploring Political Consumerism Past and Present. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, pp. ix–xxvi.
Miraftab, F. (2004) Making neo-liberal governance: The disempowering work of empowerment. International Planning Studies 9 (4): 239–259.
Mohan, G. and Stokke, K. (2000) Participatory development and empowerment: The dangers of localism. Third World Quarterly 21 (2): 247–268.
Mosse, D. (2004) Is good policy unimplementable? Reflections on the ethnography of aid policy and practice. Development and Change 35 (4): 639–671.
Mowforth, M., Charlton, C. and Munt, I. (2007) Tourism and Responsibility: Perspectives from Latin America and the Caribbean. London and New York: Routledge.
Mowforth, M. and Munt, I. (2008) Tourism and Sustainability: Development, Globalisation and New Tourism in the Third World, 3rd edn. New York and London: Routledge.
Pattullo, P. (1996) Last Resorts: The Cost of Tourism in the Caribbean. London: LAB.
Raymond, E. (2008) Make a difference! The role of sending organizations in volunteer tourism. In: K.D. Lyons and S. Wearing (eds.) Journeys of Discovery in Volunteer Tourism: International Case Study Perspectives. Wallingford, UK: CABI Publishing, pp. 48–60.
Rose, N.S. (1999) Powers of Freedom: Reframing Political Thought. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Scheyvens, R. (2007) Exploring the tourism-poverty nexus. Current Issues in Tourism 10 (2&3): 231–254.
Shamir, R. (2008) The age of responsibilization: On market-embedded morality. Economy and Society 37 (1): 1–19.
Simpson, K. (2004) ‘Doing development’: The gap year, volunteer-tourists and a popular practice of development. Journal of International Development 16 (5): 681–692.
Smith, V.L. and Eadington, W.R. (eds.) (1992) Tourism Alternatives: Potentials and Problems in the Development of Tourism. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Stoddart, H. and Rogerson, C.M. (2004) Volunteer tourism: The case of habitat for humanity South Africa. Geojournal 60: 311–318.
Stronza, A. (2001) Anthropology of tourism: Forging new ground for ecotourism and other alternatives. Annual Review of Anthropology 30: 261–283.
Telfer, D.J. and Sharpley, R. (2008) Tourism and Development in the Developing World. London and New York: Routledge.
Townsend, J.G., Porter., G. and Mawdsley, E. (2002) The role of the transnational community of non-government organisations: Governance or poverty reduction? Journal of International Development 14 (6): 829–839.
Tsing, A.L. (2005) Friction: An Ethnography of Global Connection. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Wearing, S. (2001) Volunteer Tourism: Experiences that Make a Difference. Wallingford, UK: CABI Publishing.
Wilson, T.D. (ed.) (2008) The impact of tourism in Latin America. Special Edition of Latin American Perspectives 35 (3): 3–121.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Vodopivec, B., Jaffe, R. Save the World in a Week: Volunteer Tourism, Development and Difference. Eur J Dev Res 23, 111–128 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1057/ejdr.2010.55
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/ejdr.2010.55