Abstract
In his book, No More Heroes: Grassroots Challenges to the Savior Mentality, Jordan Flaherty claims the saviour mentality exists when “you want to help others but are not open to guidance from those you want to help”. According to Flaherty, the adoption of this mentality results in charitable activities at individual and community levels without broader systemic change, leaving unjust power relations unaddressed. He argues that this mentality is underpinned by racism, colonialism and capitalism, as well as an unethical and historically problematic understanding of charity. With reference to the ongoing partnership work between Scotland and Malawi, this article summarises a conceptual investigation into the possibility that Global Citizenship Education perpetuates the hero narrative. Historical, political and educational research is connected to Bhabha’s theory of cultural hybridity to conceptualise a theory of Reparational Citizenship Education, in contrast to the “reciprocal” approach favoured by policy makers and charitable organisations in Scotland. It is argued that this conceptual shift involves taking the hero narrative to task and that this approach has theoretical and practical implications for the future of Global Citizenship Education.
Highlights
The phrase “White-Saviour Industrial Complex” was coined by Nigerian-American author TejuCole in 2012 [1]
I have set out a theoretical basis for a mode of citizenship education that includes critical literacy but, crucially, extends beyond it to an explicit action-oriented pedagogical project imbued with a critical historical consciousness
I argue that the concept of saviourism is relevant to Global Citizenship Education, but that saviourism is best conceptualised not as a psychological mentality, but as a cultural discourse that I refer to as the hero narrative
Summary
The phrase “White-Saviour Industrial Complex” was coined by Nigerian-American author Teju. The purpose of the paper is to examine Global Citizenship Education (GCE), from the point of view of the hero narrative. I argue that this re-telling makes the case for a reparational approach to citizenship education, which involves taking the hero narrative to task. I argue that this narrative has been constructed around David Livingstone and is perpetuated in current policy and educational approaches promoted by the Scottish Government and the Scotland–Malawi Partnership.
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