International development in transition

Abstract

International development is in a period of transition. While the outcome of this is still unclear, this article argues that there are at least four areas in which the project of international development is changing. First, there is a debate, especially within the World Bank, about development strategy and how we think about development, particularly in terms of the balance between states and markets. This is evident in the debate over state failure and the new structural economics. Second, there is increasing evidence of a shift in lending, away from projects of ‘small’ human development, perhaps best encapsulated by the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, towards more transformative ‘big’ development projects such as infrastructure. Third, ‘non‐traditional’ aid donors and new forms of private philanthropy are playing a more significant role in development financing and this, in turn, offers developing countries a new range of choices about what kinds of development assistance they receive. Fourth, aid relations are changing as a result of the renewed agency of developing states, particularly in sub‐Saharan Africa, and shifts towards increased South–South cooperation are growing as evidenced by increased funding from regional development banks and increased trade flows. The article reviews these changes and suggests a series of questions and challenges that arise from them for analysts of international development, developing countries and traditional aid donors.

Exporting stimulus and “shared prosperity”: Reinventing foreign aid for a retroliberal era

“…A new aid regime is emerging, one that is turning away from the poverty‐focused consensus paradigm that guided Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD) donors from the late 1990s, reflected in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the “aid effectiveness” agenda (Eyben & Savage, ; Harman & Williams, ). Trends and outcomes are crystallizing in what is being termed the “beyond aid” agenda (Barder & Evans, ; Janus, Klingebiel, & Paulo, ; Mawdsley, Savage, & Kim, ).…”

An end to Nordic exceptionalism? Europeanisation and Nordic development policies

“…These possible signs of Europeanisation can, however, better be explained by impulses from the global aid debate that have influenced the EU and the member states alike (cf. Harman & Williams, 2014). It is well known that aid has its fads and fashions that are closely followed by most donors.…”

“…We can thus witness a greater attention to 'the market' as a mover of prosperity and development, and consequently relative less focus on 'the state' as the main force behind development -a clear change compared to the 1970s and 1980s (cf. Harman & Williams, 2014). This evolution also involves a greater emphasis on the expansion of Nordic countries' business and investments in developing countries (OECD-DAC, 2011, 2013a, 2013b.…”

Gender and Infrastructure in the World Bank

“…While the Bank has not overtly stated that it has learned lessons from past problems, there is a change in rhetoric as to how it now approaches infrastructure programmes, putting states as ‘clients’ first. Governments are now seen to be at the centre of infrastructure planning processes and have indeed been asking for greater investment in infrastructure from the Bank (Harman and Williams, ). Infrastructure planning is meant to be more mindful of the social and environmental externalities of such programmes rather than being narrowly focused on the potential economic gains such large‐scale projects may deliver.…”

“…The G8 and G20, the World Bank, and regional development banks have all identified infrastructure as a core site of development assistance in the coming years (African Development Bank, ; Asian Development Bank, ). Lending to key infrastructure projects such as energy from OECD countries has quadrupled in the last ten years, whereas spending on more ‘human’ development has shown a decline (Harman and Williams, ). At the same time, concerns about gender equality and women's empowerment continue to be central to the rhetoric and practice of international‐ development institutions such as the World Bank.…”