7 minute read
Solidarity not Charity
Volunteer Life - Different experiences
The white saviour complex as a remnant of the colonial past that still can be found in volunteering
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by Madlen Batsiou, Carolin Kretzer
We have all seen this kind of commercial at least once on television. While we are waiting for the commercial break to end so we can continue to watch our favourite movie, a black child appears on the screen. Thin, weak and barely able to keep their eyes open laying in the arms of their mother who is crying because she cannot feed her son. In this scene of despair, a white doctor suddenly appears next to them and consoles her. The doctor takes the baby, feeds him, gives him all the care and support he needs and saves him from the troubles. Doctors, humanitarian workers and missionaries have supported people from African countries for years by providing food and medicines as well as building schools and hospitals, which however no one has ever asked them to provide nor build. So why did they do it?
The scene depicted in the commercial and the humanitarian aid given by European countries to their former colonies are perfect examples of white saviorism. This form of unsolicited help is deeply rooted in the white man’s ideology of superiority and an old legacy of colonialism, disguised as a good deed. Between the 1940s and the 1990s the last European colonies were liberated and gained independence. However, after decades of political, economic, social and cultural influence, many European countries still upholded their power relations that were technically abolished by the country’s independence. By the time the African countries finally regained their independence they were so exploited and damaged by European governance, that they were completely unable to establish a new structure. Left to themselves without resources, they were again dependent on the help of their former colonisers. So what is deeply wrong about all this is not the help itself, but the motives and discriminatory values behind it.
The white saviour complex explains what are the discriminatory values that characterise these actions and defines an ethic of help that is essentially centered on one’s superiority in the action instead of giving the actual long-lasting help that is needed. In fact, a white saviour is defined as an individual who brings help to a non-white individual, starting from the assumption of being superior to the latter and therefore having the duty to help him. This type of toxic, paternalistic and offensive help is entirely centered on the figure of the white saviour. Instead of the person who is in actual need of help, the white saviour is the protagonist of the action giving help to a person who is seemingly dependent on this help “from above”.
As already explained, this ideology finds its roots in the period of colonialism. Since brutally destroying and exploiting foreign countries does not go along with the values of the enlightenment era, the colonisers established a system of superiority and inferiority of the people. With this, they could easily justify all the harm they did without facing any consequences. Now it seemed like all the exploitation and destruction was something really important and in the spirit of good faith. But in actual fact, according to anthropology, you cannot categorize cultures. The concept of superiority and inferiority can only be applied to for example technology, when a device is more advanced to another or when working with a machine is more efficient and therefore superior to working with hands. This cannot be applied to humans and cultures as there is no way of measuring the superiority of one culture to another.
Can volunteering also become an expression of the white saviour complex?
Unfortunately, yes. In recent years, a growing trend to transform tourism into an opportunity to make oneself useful and support the local communities, has led to the complete destruction of the concept of volunteering. What is now called “volunteer tourism” is often based on the ideology of the white saviour complex, in which tourists play an active part in the development of the local population of the global south. It exacerbates the existing stereotypes of the underdeveloped, poor countries that are without resources and the ability to improve their situation on their own and which are in desperate need of the tourist-volunteers, mostly from Western-countries. This type of voluntary service not only prevents populations from self-developing, but also binds them closely to external help, of which they become dependent. A seemingly endless vicious cycle. But what can we do to break it?
Tourists are not the first ones to be condemned. Motivated by good intentions, they rely on the organisation that makes volunteering a source of profit, which destroys the local social fabric. It is not the genuine desire to support the local population in their self development path that drives the actions of the organisation but rather the somewhat narcissistic need of the white tourist, who pays to be able to play saving the world in a remote village in the savannah.
Teju Cole
So how can we avoid falling into these false solidarity traps?
First of all it is important to realise this phenomenon and how it happens. Being aware of the existence of this complex helps to take a first step towards a critical vision of what is being done and the actual reasons behind our actions. Here are 10 things to keep in mind if you want to embark in the volunteering journey in order to stay away from “white saviour” behaviours and become a good ally instead.
1) Educate yourself: Don’t accept things without criticism. Always do your own research about the historical facts and issues of the country of destination before taking action. Read, read, read and always keep yourself informed with sources like books, documenta- ries and educational articles. Keep unlearning and questioning because knowledge is power!
2) Allyship: Being an ally may take different forms but the main point of it is to acknowledge your own privilege and to leverage it to support those who are asking for what they need. It is about educating yourself and taking action to ensure you are not creating spaces where harm can blossom.
3) Goals and ambitions: Leverage your empathy to look past conventional hurdles to social change and imagine a world that many would find too ambitious to pursue. Through empathy our actions together can lead to collective visions for our society, which might become a reality.
4) Make your activism more meaningful and strategic. Don’t only join protests and marches, also use your institutional power to change the structures and systems. Action speaks louder than words!
5) Listen: Be an active listener when someone talks about the concerns they might have.
Brittany Packnett
6) Avoid conversations about yourself: Be humble. Ask yourself if you are using your privilege to amplify others or if you are drowning them.
7) Connect: Find or build a group of people for accountability. Generate conversations with other colleagues to make sure you are holding yourself accountable and to act with integrity.
8) Challenge your prejudice: Our assumptions and blind biases can be a barrier to understand others completely and their experiences. To examine those biases and prejudices we must challenge ourselves to unlearn our preconceptions so we can be open to new ideas and uphold a holistic dimensional view of people.
9) Ignoring and avoiding is not empathetic: When volunteering you will meet many different people in difficult situations experiencing hardship. It may feel more comfortable or like the right thing to avoid drawing attention to it but oftentimes leaning into these difficulties can open the space for healing and understanding.
10) Get to know your community: When you’re directly connected with the community you want to support, more meaningful volunteerism can be generated. Becoming knowledgeable about the people around you or near you places greater value on your acts and will ultimately lead to a deeper understanding of what is needed and the role you can play.
