Discourse-Practice Interplay: Uncovering Colonial Fingerprints in Business-NGO Partnerships

Businesses play an integral role in global development work. However, recent studies highlight the persistent risk of companies adopting Eurocentric approaches in their projects, even when working alongside local stakeholders. While this risk has been identified, it remains unclear why and how such Eurocentric approaches emerge and prevail in often well-intended projects. Through an in-depth case study of a European company's partnership that aimed at improving water access to an ‘underserved' community in India, we illustrate how Eurocentric patterns emerged via a complex interplay between discourse and material practices at various project stages. The corporate actors became deeply entrenched in this approach with diverse shields preventing exposure to alternative development views. By grounding these insights into postcolonial and decolonial perspectives as interconnected sociologies, we introduce the concept of colonial fingerprints as an analytical tool to uncover Eurocentric approaches that prevent companies from creating sustainable development impact. We discuss the ethical implications of our work, emphasizing the need to view corporate development efforts in a historical context and to use partnership engagements as opportunities for learning.