From impact to transformation: Do-Gooders, Multicolored Saviors and development as lifestyle
My post is based on a very fruitful discussion on Jennifer ‘How Matters’ Lentfer’s facebook page that was triggered by Leila Janah’s recent contribution to The Development Set . The discussion addressed many issues I have been mulling over recently-particularly how to break the cycle that even good, impactful development initiatives are caught up in, being servants to consumer capitalism and its manifestations in the second decade of the 21st century. I am aware that I am writing my post from a position of privilege as a full-time academic at a Swedish university. And my final caveat is that this is still ‘just’ a blog post, not a fully referenced academic contribution (although it is about 1700 words long and you can download a ni ce pdf file if you scroll down ). Initially, Stop Labeling Do-Gooders As White Saviors seemed to be just another a post for my weekly link review. One of the key arguments of Leila Janah’s piece is that rather than focusing critique on companies like TOMS