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Building relationships and negotiating difference in international development volunteerism
Author(s) -
Schech Susanne,
Skelton Tracey,
Mundkur Anuradha
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
the geographical journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.071
H-Index - 64
eISSN - 1475-4959
pISSN - 0016-7398
DOI - 10.1111/geoj.12199
Subject(s) - negotiation , general partnership , globalization , public relations , order (exchange) , host (biology) , sociology , sustainable development , political science , business , social science , ecology , finance , law , biology
There is growing recognition that building relationships is central to creating sustainable partnerships to achieve meaningful development outcomes. International development volunteers, embedded in the community where they are volunteering, are seen as being ideally placed to build and facilitate these relationships. The nature of international development volunteerism requires both volunteers and host organisations to negotiate through and across cultural difference in order to build mutually beneficial relationships. Three discourses – partnership, globalisation, and everyday encounters with a different culture – frame our analysis of the effort required for effective relationship building. We explore how host organisations and volunteers negotiate difference to build trust and mutual respect as they navigate everyday exchanges and reconcile different expectations and outcomes of volunteerism.