Social science literature on development volunteering has mainly focused on the interstices between overseas travel experiences and organised placements, with a particular focus on youth. To date, this literature has not engaged with development volunteering that takes place within one's “home country” where subjects of helping are nonetheless racially and developmentally inscribed “Others”, such as refugee groups and exploited or trafficked migrants. This paper explores the motivations for and meanings of youth volunteering in development “at home”. The site for this examination is volunteers with NGOs oriented to migrant rights and human trafficking in Singapore. The paper makes a case for recognition of a more complicated geography of volunteering in development which is inclusive of development issues and subjects at home. Following this, the paper argues that this expression of development volunteering complicates existing characterisations, principally as volunteers express opposition to socially and state sanctioned discourses of service learning through development. Therefore, it is important to consider the political and social context of development volunteering to understand the motivations and meanings attached to development volunteering. The information, practices and views in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG). © 2017 Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers).

Singapore Migrant workers Development youth volunteering Human trafficking

Singapore [Southeast Asia] young population social development refugee migrant worker nongovernmental organization human rights voluntary approach trafficking