NEWS/LAY ARTICLES:

• The business of voluntourism: do western do-gooders actually do harm? 

  • Description: This article by The Guardian examines the role that the voluntourism industry plays in sustaining unethical orphanages in Guatemala, as well as its appeal to people from wealthy countries despite its harmful consequences.

• Why you shouldn’t participate in voluntourism

  • Description: This article discusses how in  most cases, voluntourism does not help, and many times even harms, the community it is supposedly attempting to help. The article also explains the importance of involving the community itself with project decisions, and making sure that organizations have a long-term plan of ethically improving the community. 

• Johns Hopkins interactive case studies

  • Description: These interactive case studies by the Johns Hopkins Institute of Bioethics consist of three different scenarios which involve certain ethical issues about cultural competency.

 

ACADEMIC ARTICLES:

• “English for the global”: discourses in/of English-language voluntourism

  • Description: This academic paper explores the practice of English-language voluntourism, or the use of the English language in voluntourism abroad, and its problematic nature.

• ‘Looks good on your CV’: The sociology of voluntourism recruitment in higher education

  • Description: This sociological academic paper investigates the harmful implications of using career development as an incentive for college students to participate in voluntourism.