In post-colonial Latin America a new imperialist agent is lurking under the guise of altruism. This research combines a thorough literature review, a case study, and two personal narratives to argue that NGOs serve a neoliberal agenda and are not held accountable to the people who they claim to help. In pairing both Subaltern Theory and Critical Pedagogy, the author looks at power, social, and economic implications of NGO presence in Latin America. Six themes are determined surrounding NGO activity: (1) that they are soft imperialist, neoliberal agents of today, (2) that they are used to monitor/police regions, (3) they are reliant on donors and therefore have subservient roles to their wishes, (5) they are hegemonic, and (6) they serve to de-radicalize people and movements, neutralizing opposition.
","abstract_html":"<p>In post-colonial Latin America a new imperialist agent is lurking under the guise of altruism. This research combines a thorough literature review, a case study, and two personal narratives to argue that NGOs serve a neoliberal agenda and are not held accountable to the people who they claim to help. In pairing both Subaltern Theory and Critical Pedagogy, the author looks at power, social, and economic implications of NGO presence in Latin America. Six themes are determined surrounding NGO activity: (1) that they are soft imperialist, neoliberal agents of today, (2) that they are used to monitor/police regions, (3) they are reliant on donors and therefore have subservient roles to their wishes, (5) they are hegemonic, and (6) they serve to de-radicalize people and movements, neutralizing opposition.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Doty, Melissa"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science (MS) in Communication Studies","degree_level":"Thesis: EWU Only","degree_discipline":"Communication Studies","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Jeffrey Stafford","Majid Sharifi","Dale Lindekugel"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2014,"date_issued":"2014-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2014-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:13:35Z","subjects":["[NGO 1]","[Imperialism 2]","[Latin America 3]","[Neo-Liberalism 4]","[Post- Colonialism 5]","[Peru 6]","[Bolivia 7]","[Freire 8]","[Critical Pedagogy 9]","[Subaltern 10]","Central American Studies","International and Intercultural Communication","Nonprofit Studies"],"languages":[],"rights":["Access perpetually restricted to EWU users with an active EWU NetID"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://dc.ewu.edu/theses/230","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Jeffrey Stafford","Majid Sharifi","Dale Lindekugel"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Doty, Melissa"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Communication Studies"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis: EWU Only"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science (MS) in Communication Studies"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["[NGO 1]","[Imperialism 2]","[Latin America 3]","[Neo-Liberalism 4]","[Post- Colonialism 5]","[Peru 6]","[Bolivia 7]","[Freire 8]","[Critical Pedagogy 9]","[Subaltern 10]","Central American Studies","International and Intercultural Communication","Nonprofit Studies"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Access perpetually restricted to EWU users with an active EWU NetID"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://dc.ewu.edu/theses/230"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["In post-colonial Latin America a new imperialist agent is lurking under the guise of altruism. This research combines a thorough literature review, a case study, and two personal narratives to argue that NGOs serve a neoliberal agenda and are not held accountable to the people who they claim to help. In pairing both Subaltern Theory and Critical Pedagogy, the author looks at power, social, and economic implications of NGO presence in Latin America. Six themes are determined surrounding NGO activity: (1) that they are soft imperialist, neoliberal agents of today, (2) that they are used to monitor/police regions, (3) they are reliant on donors and therefore have subservient roles to their wishes, (5) they are hegemonic, and (6) they serve to de-radicalize people and movements, neutralizing opposition.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Ngo Imperialistic Invasion of Latin America: Yanquis Go Home"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Jeffrey Stafford","Majid Sharifi","Dale Lindekugel"],"dc:creator":["Doty, Melissa"],"dc:description.abstract":["In post-colonial Latin America a new imperialist agent is lurking under the guise of altruism. This research combines a thorough literature review, a case study, and two personal narratives to argue that NGOs serve a neoliberal agenda and are not held accountable to the people who they claim to help. In pairing both Subaltern Theory and Critical Pedagogy, the author looks at power, social, and economic implications of NGO presence in Latin America. Six themes are determined surrounding NGO activity: (1) that they are soft imperialist, neoliberal agents of today, (2) that they are used to monitor/police regions, (3) they are reliant on donors and therefore have subservient roles to their wishes, (5) they are hegemonic, and (6) they serve to de-radicalize people and movements, neutralizing opposition.
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