Accessorizing development: Fundraising bracelets for International Development as a New Development Responsibility

Abstract

Individuals in the Global North wishing to support people in the Global South can purchase a fundraising bracelet in order to ‘change lives’. This article examines the use of fundraising bracelets for International Development (FBID) as a form of ‘New Development Responsibility’. We illustrate through a database and critical discourse analysis that FBID campaigns are a distinctly feminized version of ID aid where women are engaged as consumers, campaign founders and artisans. Our analysis of these different roles suggest that FBID represent a specifically feminized version of the ‘White Saviour Complex’ requiring further exploration, particularly around the ‘accessorization’ of ID.