The Colonial Legacies of Internship Programs in International Development - A Qualitative Case Study of Local Staff’s Experiences in Uganda

Abstract: Although extensively advertised as a positive practice that enhances students’ intercultural competencies, internship programs have been increasingly criticised for reinforcing simplistic understandings of global development. Often involving students from the Global North engaging in placements with development organisations and institutions in the Global South, these programs perpetuate dynamics of systematic inequality rooted in colonial legacies. In this qualitative case study this phenomenon is explored based on semi-structured interviews with local development practitioners in Uganda. Findings highlight extensive elements of white saviourism among respondents’ experiences when working with international interns: issues of power imbalance within the workplace as well as interns’ tendency to operate with a condescending attitude of superiority towards local staff emerged. The study argues that increasing students’ awareness about their positionality and privilege constitutes an essential strategy towards the decolonisation of development education.