{"id":7363,"date":"2025-08-15T15:30:53","date_gmt":"2025-08-15T13:30:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/glokal.org\/projekte\/postcolonial-perspectives-on-development-cooperation-2013-2017\/"},"modified":"2026-07-29T13:24:01","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T11:24:01","slug":"postcolonial-perspectives-on-development-cooperation-2013-2017","status":"publish","type":"projekte","link":"https:\/\/glokal.org\/en\/project\/postcolonial-perspectives-on-development-cooperation-2013-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"Postcolonial Perspectives on Development Cooperation (2013-2017)."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Becoming a development aid worker is a common career aspiration among young people. In Germany, for example, the \u201cweltw\u00e4rts\u201d development policy volunteer service has been in place since 2008, through which several thousand volunteers have already been sent to so-called developing countries. In addition, there are other programs and an ever-expanding range of training opportunities. This motivation often stems from the fact that \u201cdevelopment cooperation\u201d is unquestioningly associated with good causes, charitable projects, the fight against injustice, compassion, and aid. After all, don\u2019t we all want poor countries to benefit from our technological \u201cdevelopment\u201d and our knowledge? Someday, everyone should be able to live like we do! Or don\u2019t we? <\/p>\n\n

Isn\u2019t it also patronizing to assume that \u201cwe\u201d know who should \u201cdevelop\u201d and how? Can\u2019t \u201cwe\u201d also learn from the Global South? Isn\u2019t so-called development aid also a massive intrusion into another society? Is something well-intentioned always good? In our examination of \u201cdevelopment cooperation,\u201d we focus in particular on the fact that it is closely intertwined with European colonialism. For decades, this very issue has been the subject of political activism and numerous academic studies in both the Global South and the Global North: \u201cDevelopment aid\u201d is viewed as a means of exercising power that serves to maintain Western hegemony economically, politically, and culturally, and to shape societies in its own image. Racism, as the central foundation and legitimization of colonialism, still implicitly plays an important role in the argument over who should be \u201cdeveloped\u201d by whom and why. In addition to the significance of racism on the ideological level, power structures favoring white people in work structures, project work, public relations, fundraising, and educational work are also significant. <\/p>\n\n

In our educational work, we examine \u201cdevelopment cooperation\u201d in terms of its colonial roots and its connections to racism. By bringing these gaps to light, we can spark a discussion about how to prevent racism in our work practices. This includes, not least, the question of whether this is even possible within the given structures and power dynamics. Nevertheless, it is important to us in this examination to discuss how we can still be capable of taking action. <\/p>\n\n

We offer workshops, lectures, and multi-day seminars on the following topics:<\/p>\n\n