“Through the weltwärts-The aim of voluntary service is to make it possible to make a ‘personal contribution to a just world’. But what ideas go hand in hand with this service, which operates in a political context marked by unequal power relations? Using postcolonial and feminist theories, the author examines the representations and program structures. She asks about their colonial legacy and benefits for the participants. The discourse analysis focuses on the critical examination of concepts of development in connection with those of a cosmopolitanism, which is considered a pedagogical response to globalization issues. The study reveals the entanglement of colonial history and the present of developmental engagement. It illustrates how necessary it is to cast a power-critical perspective on programs of this kind in order not to reproduce global-social power relations, but to be able to change them.” (from the blurb)
Kristina Kontzi 2015: A story with cosmopolitan intent? Postcolonial Perspectives on “weltwärts”. Baden-Baden: Nomos.
If you don’t have a bookstore worth supporting near you, you can also buy the book from the alternative non-profit online bookstore links-lesen.de, which supports political projects with the profits. The link to the book can be found here.