How we talk about global health: David Verga (PATH) November 2020: As James Baldwin points out in Notes of a Native Son, “the root function of language is to control the universe by describing it.” Regardless of our intent, the words we use have material consequences. As NGOs, the way we describe our work shapes the way others see it, and think about it, and act on it. Verga’s examples include casual use of terms like ‘beneficiary,’ ‘on-the-ground,’ and ’empower.’ https://www.path.org/articles/how-we-talk-about-public-health-and-why-it-matters/
Category: Decolonization
Colonialism is a longstanding historical and social phenomenon as much as well as a mindset. Throughout the history of colonialism, neo-colonialism, and contemporary practices of global health assistance are the dominant relationships of power and privilege that are perpetuated by people and institutions of the global north toward those of the global south.