Praxis Week 2025 Workshop with Dr. Eilish Dillon
By Billy Goodwin
On Day 2 of Praxis Week 2025, Dr. Eilish Dillon of Maynooth University led a thought-provoking workshop on how development is communicated, and how those communications often reinforce colonial and racial power structures.
Words Matter
Participants began by sharing words or phrases they found ethically troubling. For example, some of the words and phrases shared included:
- “Addict” and “junkie” for their dehumanising tone.
- “Empowerment” and “progress” for implying one-way development.
- “Illegal migrants” for stripping people of humanity.
- “Developing world” for assuming a Western model is the ideal.
These reflections set the stage for questioning the Eurocentric assumptions built into much of development discourse
Beyond the Dóchas Code
Dillon critiqued the Dóchas Code of Conduct on Images and Messages (see link below). Accordingly, Dr Gertrude Cotter introduced the said codes, which consequently led to an exploration of the code’s aspects and limitations. Indeed, one of the key points raised reflected the idea that such codes often focus on surface-level optics while avoiding deeper issues like whiteness, coloniality, and structural racism. Furthermore, Dillon also discussed the idea that her research found that many NGOs in Ireland rarely address racism openly, and when they do, it’s often softened or sidestepped.
Dóchas Code of Conduct on Images and Messages: Available at https://www.dochas.ie/assets/Files/Illustrative_Guide_to_the_Dochas_Code_of_Conduct_on_Images_and_Messages.pdf (Click to download PDF. Size: 1.4MB).
Racism in Representation
Aid communications frequently portray the Global South (especially women and children) as passive victims, rarely showing adult men. This reinforces gendered and racialised ideas of vulnerability and keeps control over who speaks. Such portrayals, Dillon argued, shape public opinion and policy, and perpetuate a charity model that maintains Global North superiority.
Institutional Resistance
The discussion also turned to racism within institutions themselves, from subtle hiring biases to cultural blind spots. Janet Twomey of Trócaire acknowledged these critiques but highlighted the importance of behind-the-scenes change, while Dillon emphasised that true transformation requires deeper shifts in culture, fundraising, and governance.
Rethinking the Model
Marina Bell recommended The Revolution Will Not Be Funded, a collection that examines how NGOs can unintentionally uphold neoliberal systems. The book aligns with Dillon’s call for community-led alternatives free from institutional capture.
Final Takeaway
For Dillon, ethical communication isn’t just about replacing negative images with positive ones—it’s about changing the entire paradigm. Decolonising development means rethinking not only what we say, but how we see, and who gets to tell the story. Thus, “Swapping a negative image for a positive one does not solve the problem. The whole paradigm must shift” (Dr. Eilish Dillon, Praxis Week 2025).
Useful Links
Department of International Development news and events. Available at https://www.maynoothuniversity.ie/international-development (Opens on a new tab or window).
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MUDeptIntDev/?view_public_for=106817664006124 (Opens on a new tab or window).
To receive news and events updates, subscribe at Department of International Development at Maynooth University (Subscription form opens on a new tab or window).
University of Maynooth’s new Certificate in Global Citizenship Education for educators and practitioners. Available at https://www.maynoothuniversity.ie/international-development/certificate-global-citizenship-education (Opens on a new tab or window).
Recent and forthcoming publications
Dillon, E., Gaynor, N., McCann, G., and McCloskey, S., (eds) (2024) Global Education in Ireland: Critical Histories and Future Directions, Bloomsbury Press: London. Available at https://www.bloomsburycollections.com/monograph?docid=b-9781350380417 (Opens on a new tab or window).
Dillon, E. (2024) Putting Critical Learning at the Heart of Ethical Development Communications among INGOs. Available at MURAL – Maynooth University Research Archive Library (Opens on a new tab or window).
Dillon, E. (2021) Shifting the Lens on Ethical Communications in Global Development: A Focus on NGDOs in Ireland. Available at https://mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/14972/ (Opens on a new tab or window).
Praxis Week 2025 Workshop with Dr. Eilish Dillon (B Goodwin, 2025).
Bill Goodwin: PhD researcher in sociology, digital media, and critical discourse.
Dr. Gertrude Cotter: Lecturer in Global Citizenship Education at UCC and academic coordinator of the Praxis Project.
