Colonial Tendencies of Voluntourism: A Postcolonial Analysis of Weltwärts Testimonials

Abstract: Voluntourism is often described as a sustainable development strategy facilitating Global Learning and cross-cultural exchange. Initiated by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the voluntourism program Weltwärts strives to create stronger international partnerships, development engagement, and equitable encounters. The practice of voluntourism is contested, however, with critiques arguing that it has the tendency to reinforce unequal relationships between the Global South and the global north. This derives from the colonial legacies influencing development and, thus, voluntourism, whose everlasting effects shape a subjective perception of reality navigated by a Eurocentric perspective and hegemony of the west. This research analyses 16 testimonials of Weltwärts volunteers through a postcolonial lens to examine the ways in which voluntourism perpetuates colonial and racist tendencies. Including specifically the concepts of the Coloniality of Power, Orientalism, and White Saviourism, the analysis shows that the assumption of western superiority frequently guides the volunteers’ thoughts and actions. Although having good-hearted intentions, the volunteers tend to subconsciously position themselves as superior to the people they are engaging in. The testimonials often draw on colonial discourses creating a dichotomy between the global north and the Global South in which the former represents rationality and modernity, while the latter compromises the opposite: difficulties and chaos. A lack of qualification of the volunteers furthermore illustrates the assumption of white and western superiority guiding voluntourism projects. Portraying the volunteers as bearers of relevant knowledge, this reinforces asymmetric development narratives and perpetuates the oppression and discrimination of people from and places in the Global South. This research thus highlights the necessity to address colonial continuity and race within voluntourism. It urges development researchers and practitioners to consider the implications of their positionalities and to create a more just understanding of development by highlighting the perspective of the Global South.