Death of Idealism - Development and Anti-Politics in the Peace Corps

Why do Peace Corps volunteers often return having lost their idealism? In The Death of Idealism, Meghan Elizabeth Kallman details the combination of social forces and organizational pressures that depoliticizes Peace Corps volunteers, channels their idealism toward professionalization, and leads to cynicism or disengagement.

List of contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. The Peace Corps and Its Volunteers
2. The Development of Development: The Peace Corps and USAID
3. Ethical and Procedural Professionalization Among Peace Corps Staff
4. Volunteers in the Field
5. Home Again: Political, Civic, and Occupational Consequences of Volunteering
Conclusion
Appendix: Book Methodology
Notes
Index

About the author

Meghan Elizabeth Kallman is an assistant professor at the School for Global Inclusion and Social Development at the University of Massachusetts Boston. She is coauthor of The Third Sector: Community Organizations, NGOs, and Nonprofits (2016) and an elected official in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

Summary

Why do Peace Corps volunteers often return having lost their idealism? In The Death of Idealism, Meghan Elizabeth Kallman details the combination of social forces and organizational pressures that depoliticizes Peace Corps volunteers, channels their idealism toward professionalization, and leads to cynicism or disengagement.

Additional text

This strong critique of the program is also a powerful endorsement of the critical ways that volunteering, in this program and more generally, can shape individuals and their lives.

Product details

• Authors: Meghan Elizabeth Kallman
• Publisher: Columbia University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 30.04.2020
• EAN: 9780231189682
• ISBN: 978-0-231-18968-2
• No. of pages: 320
• Subjects: Social sciences, law, business > Sociology > General, dictionaries; USA, Sociology, Cultural Studies, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology / General, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Public Policy / Social Policy, BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Development / Economic Development, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Public Policy / Cultural Policy, United States of America, USA, Central / national / federal government policies, Development economics & emerging economies, Development economics and emerging economies, Central government policies, Charities, Voluntary Services & Philanthropy, Charities, voluntary services and philanthropy, sociology; economic development