The perceived superiority of international volunteers influences not only relationships with communities, but also with local culture. Many volunteers arrive with little knowledge of customs, traditions, or social norms and behave as if they were at home — showing limited cultural sensitivity.
The result can be a form of cultural cannibalism.
Researchers argue that commercial voluntourism often exports Western cultural norms into host communities. Volunteers — sometimes unknowingly — shape local lifestyles to align with Western ideals.
“Intuitively, it is not surprising to hear, anecdotally, that young aid volunteers from OECD nations routinely, although unintentionally, encourage rural youth to aspire for Western fashion, Western diet and Western materialism… we would expect to see rural youth evincing decreasing overt respect for elders and for tribal traditions.”
— Atkins (2012), “Smartening-up Voluntourism,” International Journal of Tourism Research 14: 371.
This dynamic is especially problematic in child-related projects.
Where communities have limited prior contact with tourists, interactions with volunteers can strongly influence local values and aspirations — often in ways that negatively impact cultural continuity.
“The ‘demonstration effect’ is a term denoting the process by which a host culture is impacted when tourists draw attention to their lifestyles and items of wealth.”
— Guttentag (2009), “The Possible Negative Impacts of Volunteer Tourism,” International Journal of Tourism Research 11: 547.
The term “cultural cannibalism” is widely discussed by Wearing (2009).
It describes how travellers consume local culture while simultaneously damaging or homogenising it through behaviour, aesthetics, and the projection of Western lifestyles — directly and indirectly, consciously and unconsciously.
Labour Market Cannibalisation
Cannibalisation also affects the local employment market, particularly when volunteers are treated as regular staff. To make participation easy, many projects reduce roles to simple, unskilled tasks — tasks that could be performed by local workers. In practice, volunteers then become competitors for local jobs.
“The problem when volunteer tourists perform work that could be performed by local community members is that volunteer tourists naturally work for free – and actually pay for the opportunity… so they may undercut competing local labourers.”
— Guttentag (2009), “The Possible Negative Impacts of Volunteer Tourism,” International Journal of Tourism Research 11: 544.
The risks are greatest when young and inexperienced volunteers are unaware of these consequences.
Many prioritise CV-building and “meaningful experiences”, while the structural cultural impact remains overlooked. Responsible volunteering starts with cultural humility, context knowledge, and roles that support (not replace) local expertise.
See related topics: Neo-Colonialism and Unequal Power Relations.
Go back to the overview: The Danger of Voluntourism or view our List of Literature and Articles.