Desire for Development

Barbara Heron

Description

In Desire for Development: Whiteness, Gender, and the Helping Imperative, Barbara Heron draws on poststructuralist notions of subjectivity, critical race and space theory, feminism, colonial and postcolonial studies, and travel writing to trace colonial continuities in the post-development recollections of white Canadian women who have worked in Africa. Following the narrative arc of the development worker story from the decision to go overseas, through the experiences abroad, the return home, and final reflections, the book interweaves theory with the words of the participants to bring theory to life and to generate new understandings of whiteness and development work.

Heron reveals how the desire for development is about the making of self in terms that are highly raced, classed, and gendered, and she exposes the moral core of this self and its seemingly paradoxical necessity to the Other. The construction of white female subjectivity is thereby revealed as contingent on notions of goodness and Othering, played out against, and constituted by, the backdrop of the NorthSouth binary, in which Canada’s national narrative situates us as the “good guys” of the world.

Sujets

• Sociology
• Development studies
• Women's studies

Informations

• Publié par: Wilfrid Laurier University Press
• Date de parution: 04 décembre 2007
• Nombre de lectures: 2
• EAN13: 9781554580989
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

DESIRE FOR DEVELOPMENT

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DESIRE FOR DEVELOPMENT Whiteness, Gender, and the Helping Imperative

Barbara Heron

This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, through the Aid to Scholarly Publications Programme, using funds provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program for our publishing activities.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Heron, Barbara, 1949– Desire for development : whiteness, gender, and the helping imperative / Barbara Heron.

Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-55458-001-9

1. Women, White—Developing countries. 2. Women, White—Race identity. 3. Women in development—Developing countries. 4. Power (Social sciences). 5. Economic development—Social aspects. 6. Imperialism. I. Title.

HD82.H434 2007

305.48'9622

C2007-903510-8

Cover design by P.J. Woodland. Text design by Catharine Bonas-Taylor.

© 2007 Wilfrid Laurier University Press Waterloo, Ontario, Canada www.wlupress.wlu.ca

This book is printed on Ancient Forest Friendly paper (100% post-consumer recycled). Printed in Canada

Every reasonable effort has been made to acquire permission for copyright material used in this text, and to acknowledge all such indebtedness accurately. Any errors and omissions called to the publisher’s attention will be corrected in future printings.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmit- ted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written consent of the publisher or a licence from The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency (Access Copyright). For an Access Copyright licence, visit www.accesscopyright.ca or call toll free to 1-800-893-5777.

In memory of my parents

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CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

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1. Challenging the Development Work(er) Narrative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Situating the Theoretical Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Critiquing Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Empirical Basis for the Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Overview of the Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2. Where Do Development WorkersReallyCome From? . . . . . . . . . . Bourgeois Subject Formation: The Era of Empire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Colonial Continuities: Planetary Consciousness, Entitlement, and Obligation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Development Worker Motivations: Colonial Continuities in Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Planetary Consciousness: The View from Here . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Obligation: Making a Contribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Entitlement: Making a Choice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Concluding Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

3. Development Is … a Relational Experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . First Encounters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . How Do “We” Relate to “Them”? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Relations across Difference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Barriers We Negotiate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Non-Negotiable Barriers: “We” Generate; “They” Impose . . . . Concluding Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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1 6 12 15 20

25 27

3

3

38 38 41 45 52

55 59 66 68 72 79 88

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Contents

4. Negotiating Subject Positions, Constituting Selves . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 Considering Whiteness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 Exploring the Positioning of Northern Development Workers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Gender Complexities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 Claiming Subjectivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 Concluding Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

5. Participants’ Retrospectives: Complicating Desire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 The Moral Basis of Bourgeois Subjectivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124 What Do We Think of It Now? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 No Misgivings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 Doubt Deepens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130 The Centre Cannot Hold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134 How Can We Resist? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

6. Summing Up, Drawing Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 What Does All This Imply? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

Bibliography 175. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Index

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

his book would not have been possible without the support of a T number of people. Although it draws from my years as a develop- ment worker in Zambia, the book’s beginning is really traceable to my encounter with Sherene Razack at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, where I did my doctoral studies. I am deeply indebted to Sherene, who became my thesis supervisor. Her critical thinking on race and subjectivity challenged me to conceptual- ize my part in the development enterprise in new and unsettling terms. Sherene’s wisdom, courage, and brilliance continue to inspire me, and her friendship to warm me. Kari Dehli and George Dei, who were mem- bers of my thesis committee, have also been enormously important in the development of the original dissertation from which this manuscript has been created. Perhaps only I know how deep are the imprints of all three of these extraordinary scholars on the work, but I do know, and I thank them. I have been sustained through revisions and the whole publishing process by fast friendships. Sheryl Nestel has been a pillar of strength, to whom I have turned often for advice and encouragement. I have also been buoyed by the confidence directed toward me by Donna Jeffery, Dawn Sutherland, Jane Ku, and Amina Jamal. Tina Martin, her hus- band Ted Vanderklugt, and their children Brendan and Kyla have made their home my home, and, as through the thesis years, they have sup- ported me with their love. Norma Knuckle’s friendship and under- standing of development issues has kept me grounded as I worked on this project. Sydia Nduna and Jane Ferguson, based in Geneva and working in the international field, have given me fresh perspectives on

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