Why people who work in international development need to recognize their privilege

Suppose you went to a U.S. ghetto this summer and tried to help the poor there “help themselves.” Very soon you would be either spit upon or laughed at. People offended by your pretentiousness would hit or spit. People who understand that your own bad consciences push you to this gesture would laugh condescendingly. Soon you would be made aware of your irrelevance among the poor, of your status as middle-class college students on a summer assignment… And it is profoundly damaging to yourselves when you define something that you want to do as “good,” a “sacrifice” and “help.”…

I am here to challenge you to recognize your inability, your powerlessness and your incapacity to do the “good” which you intended to do.”

— “To Hell With Good Intentions,” Ivan Illich (1968)

I remind myself of this quote all the time.

When I notice how few people from low income backgrounds work in international development, I remind myself of it.

When I hear students who want to enter this field talk about “doing good” rather than “advocating for their community”, I remind myself of it.

Concepts of “allyship,” “class”, “race”, and “privilege” have made their way into community organizing. Why does the international development sector seem to have missed out on the movement?

Maybe because international development isn’t about community organizing. It’s about an external body organizing a community, because for some reason, we can’t seem to trust the community to organize itself.

“If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time. If you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.”

- Lila Watson

Forget that our privilege sets us far apart from those we want to help. If we want to help them, we believe that we have the right to.

Forget that underdevelopment happened because of colonialism, an action perpetrated by the Global North towards the Global South. If we want to help the Global South now, we believe that we have the right to.

Let us forget that people may have feelings about what has happened in history. Let us forget that they may not want our help. Let us forget that they may want a revolution — a reversal of power. This may be hard for us to swallow. Can we handle not being needed and not being welcome?

For an industry that loves to talk about “promoting global equity,” when are we going to talk about the inequity of our own privilege? We are able to do this work because of certain factors. Let us acknowledge them and acknowledge the limitations of our own perspectives.