The Politics of International Volunteerism: The Peace Corps and Volunteers to America in the 1960s. Issue 4 (25th August 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Busch, David S
• Is Part Of: Diplomatic history. Volume 42:Issue 4(2018)
• Page Start: 669
• Page End: 693
• Publication Date: 2017-08-25
• Subjects: United States -- Foreign relations -- Periodicals; 973.92
• DOI: 10.1093/dh/dhx063
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0145-2096

Abstract

Abstract: "The Politics of International Volunteerism" examines Volunteers to America (VTA), a little known program that returned Peace Corps volunteers, VTA participants and program staff often called the "reverse Peace Corps." Lasting from 1967 to 1971 under the United States Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs, the VTA brought international volunteers from Africa, Asia, and Latin America to work alongside their American counterparts in War on Poverty initiatives throughout the United States. VTA volunteers' direct experiences in confronting American forms of racism and poverty led many to question not only the efficacy of their work, but also more broadly America's role in the world, its model of development, and its commitment to universal values. Operating as a pilot program, the VTA never received full congressional approval. The idea of placing foreign volunteers in American communities made policy makers uncomfortable and was quickly defunded by Congress in 1971 when the Peace Corps sought further expansion of the program. Despite its short history, the VTA and the volunteers' encounters in the United States offers a way of rethinking the relationship between the Peace Corps and postwar development ideas and the possibilities and limitations of international volunteer programs in the 1960s.