Abstract: International voluntary service represents the contribution of one’s time to some cause, which is largely uncompensated and spent in a country other than one’s home country. The forms of international service have evolved from roots in missionary service to a focus on development of the host communities and the volunteers. Current trends emphasize mutuality, accountability, and participation by host communities, but against a historical and contemporary backdrop, inequality remains between the volunteers and hosts. This paper speculates a range of possible positive and negative developmental outcomes, programmatic strategies to mediate negative effects, and research to inform program and policy development. Center for Social Development Washington University in St. Louis 1 International service programs have existed for decades, but what do we know about their forms and effects? We consider international service a distinct programmatic form of voluntary civic service. Sherraden defines civic service as “an organized period of substantial engagement and contribution to the local, national, or world community, recognized and valued by society, with minimal monetary compensation to the participant” (2001, p. 2). We attach the descriptor “civic” to convey that the action is performed in the public realm, while “service” connects the behavior to the field of voluntary action. As such, an international civic service program has the characteristics of long-term, intensive volunteering whereby the “server” engages in social, economic, or community-based activities in a country other than her home country. Examples of international service programs include the United States’ Peace Corps, Jesuit Volunteer Corps, Nigerian Technical Aid Corps, European Work Camps, Japanese Overseas Cooperation Volunteers, Canada World Youth, and United Nations Volunteers. Programs differ greatly in their administration, targeted server groups, and goals and activities. Service programs may link nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in sending and hosting countries, or there may be complex, cooperative arrangements between government entities and a range of NGOs in different countries (McBride et al., 2003; Sherraden & Benitez, 2003b). The volunteers may be disadvantaged youth, privileged youth, mid-career adults, or retired business executives. The goals may be to address the citizenship development of the volunteers or the economic development of communities or both (McBride et al., 2003). The volunteers may be engaged in activities as diverse as cultural preservation, tutoring, watershed management or business development. Center for Social Development Washington University in St. Louis 2 In a global assessment of civic service programs, international service programs were the most prevalent form of service, above national service programs, constituting 59 percent of 210 identified programs worldwide (McBride et al., 2004). Ninety-three percent of the programs were administered by NGOs. A majority of these programs were based in North America and Western Europe and implemented in Southern countries. Full-time service participation was required by a majority of the programs with a median duration of three months, a mean of five months, and a range of one week to two years. Eligibility criteria for service ranged from age and residence to foreign language and specialized skills. Some programs required that the server pay for the service experience, while others provided stipends that were close to market wages in the host communities, begging the categorization of this service as “volunteerism.” For about one-third of the programs, volunteers were provided housing and transportation assistance. Education, community development, and environmental protection were the primary areas of service, and goals included increasing the server’s motivation to volunteer again, increasing the server’s skill acquisition, promoting cultural understanding, creating or improving public facilities, and promoting sustainable resource use. In spite of its prevalence and complexities, scholarship on international service lags behind the status of programs and policies (McBride et al., 2003; Perry and Imperial, 2001; Smith & Elkin, 1981; Woods, 1981). While there may be positive effects of international service, there are undoubtedly negative effects as well, marked by elitism, state interests, and vestiges of imperialism (Brav et al., 2002; Grusky, 2000; Simpson, 2004). Depending upon the goals, the programs may support diplomacy between nations, dispense aid, engage in social and economic development, or focus on the needs and development of the volunteers, constituting a 1 Transnational service may be a subset of international service, which has more complex and cooperative service administration, goals, and activities (Sherraden & Benitez, 2003). In reporting these statistics, the two are added together. Center for Social Development Washington University in St. Louis 3 type of “self-service.” In this paper, we review what is known about international service. We begin by tracing its history, though we undoubtedly oversimplify the antecedents and evolution of international service in this brief space. We selectively identify the roles of colonialism, postwar reconstruction, international development, and globalization. Pairing the status of international service with its history, we identify possible pitfalls and potential of international service. Research implications are discussed with particular emphasis on international service as a development strategy. INTERNATIONAL SERVICE: FROM COLONIALISM TO GLOBALIZATION Missionary Service International “service” has arguably existed since colonial expansion in the form of missions (Ehrichs, 2002). Through missions billed as aid and development Christianity expanded worldwide. Missionary service was aided with inventions in navigation, discovery of new lands, and Europe’s growing trade with other parts of the world. The motivations and impacts of missionary service were complicated. While this form of service may have improved access to education, nutrition, and healthcare, on the whole, missionary service constituted a onesided relationship between passive beneficiaries and “enlightened” reformers. Missions had complex relationships with a range of entities; they were strategic and sometimes conflicting partners with imperialists, and were seen as proselytizers or lifesavers to the local communities. Mission service still exists today in multiple iterations, e.g., missions where proselytizing may be the focus, reverse missions based on reciprocity of service, or faith-based service emphasizing development as a self-expression of religious beliefs. While inter-religious conflict is leading policymakers and international organizations to consciously eschew religion as a basis Center for Social Development Washington University in St. Louis 4 of program design, religion is used by others as a unifier across class, race, and nationality, with religion-based international service resurging in the first decade of the twenty-first century