El. knyga: Global Learning and International Development in the Age of Neoliberalism [Taylor & Francis e-book]

This book argues that the COVID-19 pandemic has magnified a crisis in the international development sector that it can begin to tackle by re-engaging with development education practice. The recommendations in this book will serve as an important resource for researchers and students of international development and global learning.

This book argues that the COVID-19 pandemic has magnified a crisis in the international development sector that it can begin to tackle by re-engaging with development education practice.

The recent safeguarding scandal is symptomatic of a sector that is becoming overly hierarchical, brand conscious and disconnected from its base. This book argues that the sector’s failure to grapple with neoliberalism and to formulate a coherent critique of how market orthodoxy has accelerated global poverty has led to many of the problems it is facing today. This book recommends re-embracing the radical origins of global learning, situated in the participative praxis (reflection and action) of Paulo Freire, both as internal capacity-building and external public engagement. The book proposes a development paradigm, focusing on bottom-up, participative approaches to public engagement based on the needs of those that international NGOs claim to represent - the poor, marginalised and voiceless - rather than engaging in the incremental change of top-down advocacy based on the agenda of donors.

The recommendations made by this book will serve as an important resource for researchers and students of international development and global learning looking for solutions to the problems within the sector.