Carla Vitantonio’s ‘Reflexivity, coloniality and Do No Harm: thoughts on the subjectivity of aid workers’ reflects on how fostering the practices of individual and institutional positionality and reflexivity could improve the effectiveness of the Do No Harm approach, and act as a trigger for a reflection on the coloniality embedded in aid work.
Vitantonio explores the use of positionality and reflexivity as tools that can help to challenge some of the colonial assumptions which are at the foundation of the sector, particularly the long-held principle of neutrality.
The author suggests methods for the application of these practices in humanitarian and development settings, providing humanitarian leaders with new ways to navigate the changes sweeping the sector, and to question their own leadership practices through an analysis of power dynamics.
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Riflessività, colonialità e Do No Harm: riflessioni sulla soggettività nella cooperazione internazionale
This paper is available for Italian-speaking readers for download here.
