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In a 2014 essay that went viral, Pippa Biddle revealed the inequities and absurdities baked into voluntourism—the pairing of short-term, unskilled volunteer work with tourism. In the years since, Biddle has devoted herself to understanding the origins, intentions, and outcomes of a multibillion-dollar industry built on the premise of doing good, and she tracks that investigation in Ours to Explore.
The flaws of voluntourism have included xenophobia, racism, paternalism, and a “West knows best” mentality. From exploitative orphanages that keep children in squalid conditions to attract donors to undertrained medical volunteers practicing their skills on patients in developing regions and to those looking for an inspiring selfie, Biddle reveals the hidden costs of the voluntourism complex. Along the way, readers meet inspiring activists and passionate community members, as well as thoughtful former voluntourists who still work to make a difference—just differently.
Ours to Explore offers a plan for how the service-based travel industry can break the cycle of exploitation and suggests strategies for travelers who want to improve the places they visit for the long haul.
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Book Events
Praise for Ours to Explore
Press & Coverage
10 Books to Read when the World’s Completely on Fire (Fodor) September 2022
Voluntourism: How is it still happening, and what are the alternatives? (Road Book) September 2022
How to Help without Doing Harm (Top of Mind with Julie Rose) July 2022
High on Helping: The Dangers of Voluntourism (The New York Times) June 2022
Social Justice, Colonialism and Reforming Voluntourism: A Q&A with author Pippa Biddle (Verge Magazine) December 2021
‘Ours to explore’, de Pippa (Culturamas.es) September 8, 2021
#3 The Halo Effect (The White Saviors by Canadaland) August 2021
#2 The Cult of Kielburger (The White Saviors by Canadaland) August 2021
#1 The Children’s Crusade (The White Saviors by Canadaland) August 2021
When You Think You’re Saving Lives; The Dangers of Voluntourism (Dear Lifesaver by Islamic Relief UK)
The Pandemic Changed The World Of ‘Voluntourism.’ Some Folks Like The New Way Better (NPR)
“No feu el que jo vaig fer”: una jove alerta dels perills del “volunturisme” (Catalunya Radio)
Excerpt on KarmaColonialism.org (Karma Colonialism)
Voluntourism: new book explores how volunteer trips harm rather than help (The Guardian)
How Not to Volunteer Abroad: An Interview with Author Pippa Biddle (Catalyst)
“An Excerpt from ‘Ours to Explore: Privilege, Power, and the Paradox of Voluntourism'” (The FBomb)
Behind the Book: Ours to Explore (University of Nebraska Press Spring 2021 E-Newsletter)