T<scp>echnical</scp> A<scp>ssistance and</scp> A<scp>nthropology</scp>*

Métraux, Alexandre

doi:10.1525/aa.1951.53.3.02a00290

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…The TA literature dates back to the 1950s, with consistent critiques addressing delivery approaches, legitimacy issues, donor–recipient relations and success rates. The early literature focused on TA's practical and technical dimensions: how to transfer technical know‐how from developed to developing countries and what content should be transferred (Métraux, ; Blelloch, ; Martin, ). By the 1960s and 1970s, the literature had moved to question the optimism of the 1950s literature, critiquing lessons learned over two decades.…”

Section: Technical Assistancementioning

confidence: 99%

World Bank Technical Assistance: The Relational Dynamics of Policy Movement

Bazbauers

2017

Public Admin & Development

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The World Bank has been widely critiqued as a global governance actor capable of coercing and persuading its developing member countries to accept its policy recommendations. This article contributes to academic discussion by drawing upon the policy transfer and policy mobilities literatures to analyse the World Bank's two main pillars of technical assistance (TA): TA components (advisory services contained within lending operations) and stand-alone TA projects (loans and credits that solely finance TA). Beginning from the constructivist position that 'development' is a social construct, the article argues that relational dynamics between TA provider and recipient affect the perception of the legitimacy of policy norms transferred from the 'international' to the 'domestic'. The value added of the article is thus that policy legitimacy is not simply conferred by whether advice is technically sound but moreover through the social and political interactions-the relationship-between TA provider and recipient.

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Section: Technical Assistancementioning

confidence: 99%

World Bank Technical Assistance: The Relational Dynamics of Policy Movement

Bazbauers

2017

Public Admin & Development

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“…The TA literature dates to the 1950s, with consistent critiques evaluating delivery approaches, legitimacy issues, donor‐recipient relations and success rates. The early literature focused on TA's practical and technical dimensions: how to transfer technical know‐how to developing countries and what content should be transferred (Métraux, ; Blelloch, ; Martin, ). By the 1960s, the literature shifted to focus on understanding the difficulties in “transferring and absorbing knowledge across socio‐cultural contexts” (Wilson, , p. 183).…”

Section: Technical Assistancementioning

confidence: 99%

World Bank technical assistance: Locating and cultivating sympathetic interlocutors

Bazbauers

2019

Development Policy Review

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International development agencies have need of sympathetic interlocutors in developing countries who are receptive to and capable of sustainably implementing global policy norms. This article analyses World Bank technical assistance (TA) as a tool used to stack the policy deck in its favour by identifying and cultivating those government officials receptive to its ideas. Pairing its analysis with the policy mobilities literature, the article considers two questions: how does the World Bank locate receptive actors and how does it socialize new actors into accepting its ideas and practices? Observing the World Bank's four main TA pillars, the article reviews the different strengths and weaknesses of these pillars in garnering domestic support. In critiquing the World Bank's attempts to identify and cultivate sympathetic interlocutors, the article provides new insights into the mechanisms that facilitate the transnational movement of policy.

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“…The challenge of accommodating TArecipient social context was enthusiastically taken up by Métraux (1951) Contacts between a team of technicians and a community with a different tradition and holding different values may be diffi cult to establish, and may provoke misunderstanding of all kinds. The expert must learn to respect past traditions, and be ready to work through existing patterns….…”

Section: The Early History Of Ta: From Optimism To Criticismmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In an era of mass decolonization, of course newly independent countries would have such concerns and suspicions. But they could be addressed by a truly international body (the UN) taking charge of TA (Owen, 1950), by ensuring that cultural anthropologists were included in expert missions (Métraux, 1951) or by choosing the right kind of chap as your expatriate expert (Keenleyside, 1952).…”

Section: The Recent History Of Ta: From Assistance To Cooperation and Capacity Buildingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Knowledge, innovation and re-inventing technical assistance for development

Wilson

2007

Progress in Development Studies

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This paper traces the evolution of Technical Assistance to Technical Co-operation alongside more recent concepts of Knowledge Management and Innovation Systems. Originally conceived as transfer from a knowledge-rich North to a knowledge-poor South, the later terminology represents a more co-operative and dialogic conception. The evolution has been driven by persistent issues concerning capacity and knowledge-in-context and by changing approaches to development practice. The paper argues, however, that a further epistemological turn is needed that conceives of co-operative learning as ‘learning with’, where difference between actors is conceived as a resource, rather than a problem, for knowledge production.

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Technical Assistance and Anthropology*

Cited by 5 publications

References 0 publications

World Bank Technical Assistance: The Relational Dynamics of Policy Movement

World Bank Technical Assistance: The Relational Dynamics of Policy Movement

World Bank technical assistance: Locating and cultivating sympathetic interlocutors

Knowledge, innovation and re-inventing technical assistance for development

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