Myths of the Near Future: Paris, Busan, and Tales of Aid Effectiveness

Müller, Franziska; Sondermann, Elena

doi:10.1057/978-1-137-53752-2_13

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 15 publications

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“…USAID’s Policy Framework presents lessons or “success stories” learned from other places, summarized and reconstructed for reference by its agents and projects. This indicates the motivation of USAID as an established donor to teach, and its expectation for aid recipients to learn (Morvaridi & Hughes, 2018; Müller & Sondermann, 2016). These are presented as everyday pictures and quotes from the subjects of development which serve as a body of evidence (“many countries,” “some countries”) that justifies higher-level qualities and concepts such as “sustainable,” “effective,” and “impact” (Alta, 2019).…”

Section: Relationality Within Sgm: Identities Of Actors and Narrativesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relationality as a Lens for Policy Analysis: Preserving Harmony in a Triangular Cooperation Project to Strengthen Gender Mainstreaming in Fiji

Alta

Mukhtarov

2022

Administration & Society

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Policy has been mostly approached as a rational project of setting goals and establishing rules and roles to achieve them. Alternative approaches to policy have been referred to as post-positivist, critical-reflexive and relational. They all emphasize emergent, co-evolutionary and relational aspects of policy work that cannot be reduced to rational choice and reasoning-based models alone. A shared element of such frameworks is the focus on relationships, which are seen not just in a narrow sense of the “logic of appropriateness,” but as a force that shapes actors’ identities, interests and power. Following relational analytical approaches, we analyze a triangular development cooperation project funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Government of Indonesia in order to strengthen gender mainstreaming (SGM) of Fijian government. Through attention to relationality as it shapes actors’ identities and narratives, we demonstrate how a different form of learning employed by each actor facilitated harmony in the project. A key mediating factor in the smooth project co-evolution that we observed, was the ambiguous project design and vaguely articulated goals, supported by fragmented project setup and reporting. Such ambiguity allowed formulation of multiple versions of the project’s outcomes for multiple audiences. However, it also resulted in little impact on the ground in Fiji. Our findings support persistent criticism of development aid projects in small island states for rarely addressing problems of target populations.

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Section: Relationality Within Sgm: Identities Of Actors and Narrativesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relationality as a Lens for Policy Analysis: Preserving Harmony in a Triangular Cooperation Project to Strengthen Gender Mainstreaming in Fiji

Alta

Mukhtarov

2022

Administration & Society

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Special issue introduction Ownership in a post‐aid effectiveness era: Comparative perspectives

Keijzer

Black

2020

Development Policy Review

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Motivation: Close to 15 years have passed since the adoption of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, which generated unprecedented efforts to advance effective development co-operation with a central focus on developing country ownership. Under today's international development co-operation realities, involving inclusive agendas, strategic divergence and increasing competition, discussions on ownership, harmonization and alignment have lost traction. Yet the practices of development co-operation relationships show strong continuities. Purpose: This special issue examines how the principle of ownership may be understood and advanced under these new conditions. National ownership is prioritized in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development yet has so far been marginalized by a predominantly piecemeal response and by the rise of "mutual benefit" co-operation. Approach and Methods: This special issue takes an inductive approach to studying specific cases and actors bearing on the challenge of understanding and advancing ownership today, in order to inform future policy and research. The contributions to this special issue mainly draw from qualitative research designs that present detailed research inquiries into specific country and actor cases, drawing from interviews, structured desk reviews of policy documents and the rich body of literature on development effectiveness. They are complemented by two contributions that respectively present quantitative research and probe the critical and post-development literature for additional insights. Findings: Findings point to an increasing prevalence of pragmatism and self-interest among all actors, to the detriment of national ownership. Broad co-operation agendas, a sense of urgency interpreted as a search for quick results, and more diverse, interest-and outcome-driven forms of multistakeholder partnerships all entail a more assertive and proactive approach on the part of external actors. Under these conditions, local initiative may either become stifled or be reasoned away. Given this, today's dominant approaches to co-operation raise concerns about their ethics and sustainability. Policy implications: Ownership remains both a requirement and a desired outcome of international co-operation and is key to the effective O2 | KEIJZER and BLaCK

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Myths of the Near Future: Paris, Busan, and Tales of Aid Effectiveness

Cited by 2 publications

References 15 publications

Relationality as a Lens for Policy Analysis: Preserving Harmony in a Triangular Cooperation Project to Strengthen Gender Mainstreaming in Fiji

Relationality as a Lens for Policy Analysis: Preserving Harmony in a Triangular Cooperation Project to Strengthen Gender Mainstreaming in Fiji

Special issue introduction Ownership in a post‐aid effectiveness era: Comparative perspectives

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