Talk:Issues in Interdisciplinarity 2019-20/Power in Voluntourism


 * Power def.jpg Definition of power (with the slide from the lecture). What do you think ? Iris Perigaud Grünfeld (discuss • contribs) 10:53, 28 November 2019 (UTC)


 * Great! I have made the notes into a paragraph, do feel free to edit!--Lydia Kenny (discuss • contribs) 18:57, 29 November 2019 (UTC)


 * I love it: thank you so much ! Iris Perigaud Grünfeld (discuss • contribs) 20:16, 29 November 2019 (UTC)


 * Some ideas about the structure of the Wikibooks. The structure of the introduction, the first paragraph and the transition have been done yesterday during a group meeting.

Iris Perigaud Grünfeld (discuss • contribs) 13:14, 28 November 2019 (UTC)

Comments /thoughts/ ideas (working conversation space)[edit] I am cautious that our framework is too cut and paste ideologies- do you remember in the Royal Hotel and they were saying BE WARY OF NOT JUST DOING DISCIPLINES X,Y,Z and then conclusion? I'm not saying let's not do it, but worth being aware of being overly explicit in our discipline categorisations?


 * I know what you mean, but I think the main thing is to not just leave the article at the disciplines, it is to really delve into power as an interdisciplinary issue, which we do (though we need to cut 700 words...) I think the categorisations help with the structure of the piece. We can check with Nicola.Lydia Kenny (discuss • contribs) 00:00, 3 December 2019 (UTC)

due to word count, I am thinking we skip anthropology all together
 * I agree --Lydia Kenny (discuss • contribs) 00:00, 3 December 2019 (UTC)

We can use terminology 'VSAs' to refer to Volunteer Sending Agencies

Power "needing the needy"

Two questions: (I will explain them today) - how should we present the sources? - Foucault has been published in French and English, which dates should I choose ? + Cut words + interdisciplinarity paragraph Iris Perigaud Grünfeld (discuss • contribs) 08:36, 3 December 2019 (UTC)


 * Group Meeting (3/12)

- looked through ideas and agreed to skip anthropology - improved and shorten "History" - talked about power issues in interdisciplinarity research

What we need to do: Next meetings on 4/12 and on the 6/12. -check if we used Vancouver system -read, improve and shorten when needed the different paragraphs


 * After meeting with Nicola (seminar leader), we have decided to cut philosophy in order to focus on power within each discipline and between disciplines themselves (previous version focussed to much on case study). Here is the Philosophy section cut, incase it is useful.

Philosophy : Altruism, Cultural Relativism & Narratives[edit] Voluntourism is often done with altruistic intentions as 'selfless behaviour, which benefits the welfare of others without expected favours in return'[9]. Yet this concretes the idea that the source community has valuable to give back and the voluntourists have little to gain. Cultural relativism informs us that 'cultural values and practices are usually perceived by members of a society as uniquely satisfying and superior to all other.' [10] When a group 'invades' another, albeit honourable intentions, there is a power clash; the host feels superior in their natural living space whereas the international volunteers behave empowered by their altruistic governance.

There has been a shift in paradigms from pure altruism to 'egoistic motives', or reciprocal altruism.[11] Western society has seen a need to cultivate a digital identity on social media; and provided the typical voluntourist is in adolescence/young adult, volunteering provides an opportunity to create a 'travel narrative'[12] that enriches their social desirability [13]. A recent controversy with Stacey Dooley's Instagram post [14] sparked rage at it flaunting her contributions to the vulnerable people instead of the individuals themselves. Power must be recognised in the VolunTourism phenomena for it is only permitted through affluence in affording to take time off work to travel. In crafting their own 'travel narratives', seldom do storytellers realise the power inequality they are exerting on the host community by condoning notions of 'the other'. Boundaries of "us/them, local/global, developed/developing, problem-causer/problem-solvers"[15] are further cemented. --Lydia Kenny (discuss • contribs) 12:33, 4 December 2019 (UTC)


 * Yes, talking with Nicola I think the group has more clarity on the task at hand. We realise prior to this we were engaging with the case study through disciplinary lens, when in fact we should be addressing the issue of power in our selected disciplines through the case study as vehicle. What this means (as Lydia has shown above) is reducing to just 2 disciplines in our discussion (History and Engineering) for they epitomise power issues within their own discipline as well as interdisciplinary discussions.

Key ideas: History (voluntourism as neocolonialism) --> colonialism shaped history books as THOSE IN POWER wrote it Engineering (volutouring disregards local approaches to knowledge, opportunity to enrich western approaches to construction and create engineers of the future) --> Power in discipline is assuming large responsibilities in creating structures supporting society, dangers of not understanding the social contexts surrounding them?

Engineering(E) vs history (H) (E) -> (H) = engineering as an academic discipline provided much more funding than humanities meaning this effects research depth and knowledge pools and opportunities. not fair to students. (H) -> (E) = you sending people out there can be read as act of colonialism, seeing vulnerable people as learning opportunity to enrich western bodies of knowledge illustrating power hierarchies between disciplines

PIVITOL CONVERSATION = how has power shaped disciplinary bodies of knowledge? how does power present as an issue from monodisicplinary perspectives also?

Andrews zoe (discuss • contribs)

Post Nicola Contribs.

 * Engineering section - we need to talk more about how power has shaped the discipline (wary of slipping into history?)

the lecture slides detail how 'power has shaped these disciplines and continues to influence the bodies of research' so its that notion I am trying to capture in my contributions to the intro Andrews zoe (discuss • contribs)


 * Through this lens, VolunTourism is criticized: awareness of power issues is arising, with even VSO condemning it as a “a new form of colonialism”[6]. The ‘white saviour’ concept encompasses the superiority of Western countries executing their idea of development

BRILLIANT! Andrews zoe (discuss • contribs)


 * local knowledge links

https://research.bangor.ac.uk/portal/cy/researchoutputs/taking-local-knowledge-about-trees-seriously(fdf45a7e-5025-46bd-9bb4-e4d8d61ee151).html

http://www.millenniumassessment.org/documents/bridging/papers/joshi.laxman.pdf

http://www.kerpic.org/2008/abstracts/09_ompakash_joshi.pdf


 * Great concept. Interesting as it takes the 'power' out of academia... Definitely one for engineering, plus a great link between history and engineering. --Lydia Kenny (discuss • contribs) 19:35, 5 December 2019 (UTC)

Suggested History edit:

History is intrinsically bias due to the power of the writer, in the case of colonialism: white Western men, with Postcolonial theory claiming that “discourse is socially constructed”[1]. The justification of colonialism, in the need of the Global South to be ‘developed’, is looked down upon, but Postcolonial theory argues that colonization has affected West-South relationships in the long-term. Historical academia have failed to exhibits complexities in the power within the relationship between the “colonizer and colonized”.

Thus, VolunTourism is criticized, with even VSO condemning it as a “a new form of colonialism”[2]. The ‘white saviour’ concept encompasses the superiority of Western countries executing their idea of development. Despite shifts in vocabulary from 'civilising' a country, to ‘developing', to 'saving' the environment and the local population, the outcome is the same[3]: western countries retain control over resources and the population, acting without consulting communities. Power inequalities are sustained through modern media coverage of the Global South: Kolkata is reduced by the media as “a city on the verge of collapse”[4] despite it also being one of the richest cities in India. Focusing on poverty induces a power heirachy between the west and south through the power of western media writing the narratives. Subsequently, this legitimises the need to help and intervene and attracts western volunteers.

Postcolonial theory aims to give voice to the subaltern. However, academia is still controlled by the west, so it could be argued that until there is no power heirachy in real life, it is impossible to truly address power hierarchies within the discipline. --Lydia Kenny (discuss • contribs) 19:32, 5 December 2019 (UTC)


 * Live Different

Canadian charity Live Different[5], it's website asking: "have you ever wanted to learn more about how you can be a voice for those who have no voice?”[1]: it describes the Global South as "monolithic, voiceless Other”[1].

This is a great example, but I looked at their website and they have changed their name and goals since 2012 to encompass a more collaborative style (though not fully, they still have young teens building walls...), so it is not relevant to today (Though still maybe useful if we want to show the recent awareness of the detrimental effects of voluntourism? --Lydia Kenny (discuss • contribs) 19:32, 5 December 2019 (UTC)

However, we still lack the viewpoint of hosts in academia: is postcolonial theory rewriting history from another viewpoint and stealing once more the voice of the subalterns?


 * on history note, I think perhaps this is too bold a claim ? "Postcolonial theory aims to give voice to the subaltern. However, academia is still controlled by the west, so it could be argued that until there is no power heirachy in real life, it is impossible to truly address power hierarchies within the discipline." Andrews zoe (discuss • contribs)

Zoe notes on Power, L&I @ Student Centre "Each discipline fails to acknowledge useful and relevant research from other disciplines." -- brilliant Andrews zoe (discuss • contribs)


 * CLASH

Each discipline has its own scale of thinking about VolunTourism; history bridges relationships with the past and engineering explores infrastructures of the present and for the future. There are many viewpoints from other disciplines, but any monodisciplyinary explanation lacks understanding of complex problems, such as voluntourism.

Power issues exist between the academic and the real-life community in which VolunTourism takes place. The aim of interdisciplinary research is to solve a problem in the real-life, but academic research struggles to take root in real-life. The cultural dominance of academia above vocational knowledge in the western world inhibits connection between theory and practice. History is often thought of as working at a theoretical level and therefore may not feel the need to communicate with a vocational subject like engineering.

There remains a lack of communication because the disciplines do not recognise the value of the other's ideas within their own. This friction between disciplines escalates into a power issue when the hierarchy of disciplines is applied. Hard, applied sciences are viewed as more reliable than the humanities: engineering is valued more highly than history due its objective methodologies in comparison to interpretivist methods. This is epitomised through financial distribution in academia whereby more funding is directed to engineering degrees than history degrees. Methodolgies: Engineering can yield visible, measurable change, whereas history has a tendency towards subjective. For these reasons, dangerous questions such as Why should engineering concern itself with history?

Power issues create resistance to holistic progression by inhibiting collaboration. Absence of communication, linked to a power hierarchy between disciplines, causes lack of progressive interdisciplinary research. Charities send western unskilled volunteers out to 'help’ on engineering projects in Global Southern countries, often without addressing historical research and influence of colonialism. Each discipline fails to acknowledge useful and relevant research from other disciplines.

Foucault said, “power and knowledge directly imply one another”. The power dynamic between the disciplines could lead to conflict and superiority if lacking communication, due to clashing interests, methods and vocabulary.


 * Old power discussion

Each discipline has its own scale of thinking about VolunTourism; history bridges relationships with the past and engineering explores infrastructures of the present and for the future. There are many viewpoints from other disciplines, but any monodisciplyinary explanation lacks understanding of complex problems, such as voluntourism, showing the necessity of interdisciplinarity. However as Foucault said, “power and knowledge directly imply one another”, which leads to resistance to holistic progression.

Absence of communication, linked to a power hierarchy between disciplines, causes lack of progressive interdisciplinary research. Charities send western unskilled volunteers out to 'help’ on engineering projects in Global Southern countries, often without addressing historical research and influence of colonialism. Thus, each discipline fails to acknowledge useful and relevant research from other disciplines.

Hard, applied sciences are viewed as more reliable than the humanities due to the clash between objective and interpretivist methodologies. Engineering can yield visible, measurable change, whereas history has a tendency towards subjective. The hierarchy is exemplified within academia as there is an economical power imbalance: more funding is directed to engineering degrees than history degrees.

Power issues exist between the academic and the real-life communities in which voluntourism takes place. The aim of interdisciplinary research is to solve a problem in the real-life, but academic research struggles to take root in real-life. The cultural dominance of academia above vocational knowledge in the western world inhibits connection between theory and practice.

I have replaced with most recent contributions Andrews zoe (discuss • contribs)


 * I have taken this out of history to clarify main point and for word count:

showing a power issue facing engineering as a discipline that's status is heavily shaped by research and funding.

Similarly, universities are placing thousands of professionals and students worldwide through for short/mid-term placements through initiatives such as Engineers Without Borders. These groups aim to produce 'citizen engineers',

The case study illustrates a power issue within the discipline as often one society is designing for another which it does not have sufficient understanding about due to their economic superirority.

VolunTourism does provide life-changing international development and is beginning to see these power dynamics be addressed. --Lydia Kenny (discuss • contribs) 10:50, 6 December 2019 (UTC)