White Saviorism in International Development

There is a growing interest in understanding the meaning, manifestations, analyses and implications of racism in North/South relations. White Saviorism in International Development seeks to remedy the shortcomings of the development studies literature on the prevalence of White Saviorism in Western development initiatives in the Global South. The volume comprises theoretical chapters, testimonies, stories and lived experiences from 19 contributors from across the Global South. With sensitivity and intelligence, these practitioners and academics create a tapestry that unveils the implicit and explicit forms of White Saviorism in international development.

Combining praxis-informed theorization and accounts grounded in authors’ own experiences in the White Savior Industrial Complex, these succinct and accessible chapters bring the realities of racial capitalism in international development to life. I was both educated
and enraged! — Alana Lentin, author of Why Race Still Matters

This is a must-read book for anyone who wants to understand how many people contribute to upholding an oppressive White supremacist global system. — Amiera Sawas, Researcher and Advocate

This is a terrific work of deep unmasking and engagement with the proverbial but the always invisible elephant in the room of international development that of the White gaze—correctly rendered here as the”industrial-colonial-patriarchal-White savior complex.” Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni, author of Epistemic Freedom in Africa: Deprovincialization and Decolonization

White Saviorism in International Development unveils the hypocrisies undergirding development projects led by the Global North for the Global South. … It examines the intimate linkages between coloniality, development, and White Saviorism. — Jairo I. Fúnez-Flores, Texas Tech University

White Saviorism in International Development is an important and timely book that should be read by all international development students and practitioners. — Dylan Mathews, CEO Peace Direct, Chairperson CIVICUS Alliance