Challenging the "'White Gaze' of Development" during COVID-19

Date published
01 Jun 2020
Type
Audio-visual material

In this podcast with Liberian academic, activist and author Robtel Neajai Pailey, we discuss the intersections between her recently published Al Jazeera English commentary, “Africa does not need saving during this pandemic”, and Development and Change journal article, "De-centring the 'White Gaze' of Development". We use race as a lens of analysis to interrogate assumptions that Western whiteness and modernity are the primary signifiers of progress and expertise. In exploring the pitfalls of adopting a “colour blind” outlook on development, we consider how scholars, policy makers and practitioners can challenge the 'white gaze' by imagining "a better world beyond flattened curves".