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Noting a perceived absence in the volunteerism literature of Southern voices and perspectives from volunteer host organizations, the editors have assembled a collection of papers that provide an alternative view to challenge Eurocentric understandings. In their introduction to the collection, the editors outline the debates of IVS that have emanated from the North, arguing that critical theories meant to critique and expose the neoliberal and performative aspects of volunteering actually end up reinforcing neocolonialism and its unequal power relationships thereby stripping actors from the South of their agency.
This volume was developed to shift the conversation and provide alternative ways of being and knowing reflective of voices at the local level thus decentering the dominant Eurocentric knowledge of more privileged scholars from the North. Locally based researchers from nine countries both collected and analyzed the data for the case studies included in this volume, interviewing over individuals in these countries, conducting 21 focus groups in three of them, and drawing primarily on qualitative methods to transcribe and analyze the content of these conversations to more fully explore the views of local partners from the South.
Each case in the volume follows a somewhat similar format presenting the findings in two broad areas, those that point to the benefits of hosting international volunteers and a second set focused on the challenges associated these programs. Each case concludes with an analysis of the findings along with recommendations for IVS program improvement. The benefits of the volunteer programs to host countries were almost identical across all countries, with capacity building identified as the top benefit for all.
Volunteers provide a variety of capacity building skills training for host organizations, including training on technology, management, leadership development, grant writing, and evaluation to name a few.
