Voluntourism and the white savior complex: A critical analysis

• Autor(a) principal: Brodzinski-González, Daniela Andreina
• Data de Publicação: 2023
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10071/29045
• topic: Voluntourism; White savior complex; Terceiro Mundo -- Third World; Media sociais -- Social media; Volunturismo; Complexo do salvador branco

Voluntourism is conceived as the activity(s) carried out by the traveller and framed in altruistic actions related to education and health, aimed at the host community, regardless of the level of preparation that the traveller has for it. Currently, this activity has been put under the focus of criticism and debate among authors and people around the world, since voluntourism is sometimes associated with neo-colonialist ideas, with the perpetuation of stereotypes of the Third World, as well as with the White Savior Complex. The intentions of the voluntourist are called into question. From this, the need arises to investigate the discrepancy between the essence of voluntourism, with the real consequences that it can bring to local communities. The aim of this qualitative research is to observe the problems inherent to voluntourism, with the aim of creating awareness and ethical and sustainable character in those who decide to exercise it. The final result shows that the motivations of voluntourists mostly lack altruism, expressing the opposite: selfish and individualistic intentions were observed, together with the desire to stand out on social networks, with the publication of images of supposed volunteer tourism actions. These conclusions are obtained through theoretical research and descriptive analysis of the web pages Plan My Gap Year, which offers packages for voluntourists; Humanitarians of Tinder and Barbie Savior.