The Aid Effect: Ethnographies of Development Practice and Neo-liberal Reform (Anthropology, Culture and Society)

Today international development policy is converging around ideas of neoliberal reform, democratisation and poverty reduction. What does this mean for the local and international dimensions of aid relationships?The Aid Effect demonstrates the fruitfulness of an ethnographic approach to aid, policy reform and global governance. The contributors provide powerful commentary on hidden processes, multiple perspectives or regional interests behind official aid policy discourses. The book raises important questions concerning the systematic social effects of aid relationships, the nature of sovereignty and the state, and the working of power inequalities built through the standardisations of a neoliberal framework. The contributors take on new challenges to anthropology presented by a ‘global aid architecture’ which no longer operates through discrete projects but has moved on to sector wide approaches, budgetary support and other macro-level instruments of development; but they remain faithful to the fieldwork methodology that is anthropology’s strength and the source of rare insight. The Aid Effect Demonstrates The Fruitfulness Of An Ethnographic Approach To Aid, Policy Reform And Global Governance. The Contributors Provide Powerful Commentary On Hidden Processes, Multiple Perspectives Or Regional Interests Behind Official Aid Policy Discourses. The Book Raises Important Questions Concerning The Systematic Social Effects Of Aid Relationships, The Nature Of Sovereignty And The State, And The Working Of Power Inequalities Built Through The Standardisations Of A Neoliberal Framework. Global Governance And The Ethnography Of International Aid / David Mosse -- Good Governance As Technology: Towards An Ethnography Of The Bretton Woods Institutions / Gerhard Anders -- Timning, Scale And Style: Capacity As Governmentality In Tanzania / Jeremy Gould -- The Genealogy Of The 'good Governance' And 'ownership' Agenda At The Dutch Ministry Of Development Cooperation / Jilles Van Gastel And Monique Nuijten -- Whose Aid? The Case Of The Bolivian Elections Project / Rosalind Eyben With Rosario Leon -- Interconnected And Inter-infected: Dots And The Stibilisation Of The Tuberculosis Control Programme In Nepal / Ian Harper -- The Worshippers Of Rules? Defining Right And Wrong In Local Participatory Project Applications In South-eastern Estonia / Aet Annist -- Unstating 'the Public': An Ethnography Of Reform In An Urban Water Utility In South India / Karen Coelho -- Disjuncture And Marginality -- Towards A New Approach To Development Practice / Rob Van Den Berg And Philip Quarles Van Ufford. Edited By David Mosse And David Lewis. Chiefly Papers Originally Presented At A Conference Held At The School Of Oriental And African Studies (soas) In London Between 26 And 28 September 2003. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Today international development policy is converging around ideas of neoliberal reform, democratisation and poverty reduction. What does this mean for the local and international dimensions of aid relationships? The Aid Effect demonstrates the fruitfulness of an ethnographic approach to aid, policy reform and global governance. The contributors provide powerful commentary on hidden processes, multiple perspectives or regional interests behind official aid policy discourses. The book raises important questions concerning the systematic social effects of aid relationships, the nature of sovereignty and the state, and the working of power inequalities built through the standardisations of a neoliberal framework. The contributors take on new challenges to anthropology presented by a ‘global aid architecture'which no longer operates through discrete projects but has moved on to sector wide approaches, budgetary support and other macro-level instruments of development; but they remain faithful to the fieldwork methodology that is anthropology's strength and the source of rare insight. Today international development policy is converging around ideas of neoliberal reform, democratisation and poverty reduction. What does this mean for the local and international dimensions of aid relationships? The Aid Effect demonstrates the fruitfulness of an ethnographic approach to aid, policy reform and global governance. The contributors provide powerful commentary on hidden processes, multiple perspectives or regional interests behind official aid policy discourses. The book raises important questions concerning the systematic social effects of aid relationships, the nature of sovereignty and the state, and the working of power inequalities built through the standardisations of a neoliberal framework. The contributors take on new challenges to anthropology presented by a 'global aid architecture' which no longer operates through discrete projects but has moved on to sector wide approaches, budgetary support and other macro-level instruments of development; but they remain faithful to the fieldwork methodology that is anthropology's strength and the source of rare insight Today international development policy is converging around ideas of neoliberal reform, democratisation and poverty reduction. What does this mean for the local and international dimensions of aid relationships? Giving Aid demonstrates the fruitfulness of an ethnographic approach to aid, policy reform and global governance. The contributors provide powerful commentary on hidden processes, multiple perspectives or regional interests behind official aid policy discourses. The book raises important questions concerning the systematic social effects of aid relationships, the nature of sovereignty and the state, and the working of power inequalities built through the standardisations of a neoliberal framework. The contributors take on new challenges to anthropology presented by a 'global aid architecture' which no longer operates through discrete projects but has moved on to sector wide approaches, budgetary support and other macro-level instruments of development; but they remain faithful to the fieldwork methodology that is anthropology's strength and the source of rare insight International development today merges the goals of neoliberal reform, democratisation and poverty reduction within a framework of 'global governance'. What does this mean for aid relationships? What influence do donors and self-governing financial institutions like the IMF and the World Bank have over nation states? Does the emphasis on local ownership, participation and good governance in fact conceal an era of greater external intervention in the internal affairs of developing countries? What perspectives, interests or conflicts are hidden behind official aid policy discourses?In this book, experienced and engaged anthropologists examine the social processes and systematic effects of a new 'global aid architecture' that has moved beyond projects to macro-level instruments of development. They show how the fieldwork methodology that is anthropology's strength is a source of rare insight into aid relationships, and the personal histories, bureaucratic strategies and communities of expertise through which global policy is framed and negotiated. Today international development policy is characterised by the convergence of ideas of neoliberal reform, democratisation and poverty reduction within a framework of 'global governance'.