The privilege of giving career advice in international development
After Duncan Green mentioned George Monbiot’s career advice and added some reflections from his aid industry policy angle , I am yet another (white) man with a stable career – this time in academia – who is supposed to tell you how to get ‘there’… I am probably the most careful one when it comes to the ‘follow your passion’ discourse. George Monbiot is not writing about the aid industry In fact, two of his three routes he outlines are potentially quite terrible in connection with international development: Just going to the field and ‘doing it’ sounds like a voluntourism disaster to happen and ‘if you are fed up with mainstream employers just create your own brand’ (Monbiot uses slightly more radical and less creative industry language) will also lead to a challenging ‘career’-even with some professional experience under your belt. To be honest, I find Monbiot’s reflections really not that helpful as there is little room for balance with other aspects of your existence: Working for a