Paper short abstract:

The metaphor of 'being on a journey' allows British development NGOs to discursively manage charges of racism and coloniality levelled at them, revealing the racisms they choose to see and the ones they don't. INGO public statements on race tell us how they navigate crisis.

Paper long abstract:

On reviewing 30 public statements by British international development NGOs (INGOs) on race and antiracism between 2020-2022, this presentation begins with the metaphor of a ‘journey’. The idea of a journey is a useful and evocative discursive strategy to portray INGOs as socially and culturally progressive at an extraordinary moment: in the wake of a revived global Black Lives Matter movement and a series of public scandals on accusations of racism from INGO staff since 2020. As a discursive strategy, the use of rhetorical devices enable particular self-portrayals of the organisations as thoughtful and action-orientated, and simultaneously reveal wider political manoeuvres to steer organisations complicit in global racism to places easier to navigate. Such a strategy is in keeping with a wider discursive apparatus that portrays INGOs as caring and compassionate entities. Closely reading these 30 statements, I ask: how is the idea of race, racism and antiracism used in the text? Exploring in turn, where do British INGOs locate racism in development and humanitarianism? And what is their responsibility for it and to undoing it? Such an exploration reveals discursive tactics for managing charges of racism and reveals how 'antiracism' can be used as a heuristic device to satisfice demands for transformation in the sector.