How can seeing ourselves as “saviours” interrupt saviourism, the idea that facilitators can 'save' or 'fix' people and communities that are marginalized, and better support their agency instead?
Project Title
Saving or Engaging? Rethinking Community Facilitation
Sherry Ostapovitch, Ananya Banerjee, Annie Chau, and Hani Sadati with the Pedagogies of Community Engagement Collective
Authors
This resource is a podcast that explores the tension between “saving” and “engaging” when working with communities. Through personal stories and reflective conversations, the guests discuss the risks of falling into saviourism and highlight the importance of shifting toward facilitation that empowers people and communities. The podcast poses critical questions: Are we acting as saviours or supporters? How can facilitators pass the baton to communities to lead their own change? Listeners will gain practical advice and reflections on redefining roles in community engagement to avoid reproducing the saviour industrial complex and to foster authentic, sustainable collaboration.
Description
Banerjee, A. T., Bandara, S., Senga, J., González-Domínguez, N., & Pai, M. (2023). Are we training our students to be white saviours in global health?. Lancet (London, England), 402(10401), 520–521. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(23)01629-X
Cole, T. The White-Saviour Industrial Complex. The Atlantic. March 21, 2012.
https://www. theatlantic.com/international/ archive/2012/03/the-whitesavior-industrialcomplex/254843/ (accessed July 17, 2023)
Additional Resources
Ostapovitch, S. and Sadati, S.M.H. (2025) Saving or Engaging? Rethinking Community Facilitation, a conversation with Ananya Banerjee and Annie Chau.