Canadian international non-government organizations: Holding discursive strategies to a higher standard

Ethical engagement and visual representation have been a central challenge for international NGOs and development communications. However, there is a call to be attentive to the discursive strategies used by Canadian INGOs, and the representations of developing countries emulated to Western aid supporters. This study conducts a critical discourse analysis on three Canadian INGO websites: CARE Canada, International Federation of the Red Cross, and Oxfam Canada. By exploring the discursive frameworks that represent, categorize, and by extension establish sets of relations between INGO audiences and aid receivers, this study gauges the shifts of hegemonic discourses within the context of INGO messaging. An autoethnography is included with each case study, reflecting on my own experiences working with non-profit organizations.