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2. Neoclassical and Structural Analysis of Poverty: Winning the 'Economic Kingdom' for the Poor in Southern Africa
- Author
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Bracking, Sarah
- Published
- 2004
3. Race and a decolonial turn in development studies.
- Author
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Patel, Kamna
- Subjects
RACE ,DECOLONIZATION ,ECONOMIC development ,RACIAL identity of white people ,RACISM ,SCHOLARLY method ,THEORY of knowledge - Abstract
This paper reviews and revives a longstanding conversation about race and development studies, which was prominently explored in a collection of papers on race and racism in the journal Progress in Development Studies back in 2006. This revival is timely in the context of a global call to decolonise higher education. Given the central logic of race and racism in European colonialism, and the decolonial argument that colonialism continues in the production and value of knowledge, I examine the presence and absence of race and racism in discussions of decolonising higher education and in development studies. Through a systematic review and content analysis of papers published in six major development studies journals over the past 13 years, I identify where and how race is present in current development scholarship and explore the implications of this for a decolonial turn in development studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2020
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
4. Neo-mercantilist Capitalism and Post-2008 Cleavages in Economic Decision-making Power in Brazil
- Author
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KRÖGER, MARKUS
- Published
- 2012
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
5. Forging alliances: political competition and industrial policy in democratic Brazil.
- Author
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de Gaspi, Renato H.
- Subjects
- *
INDUSTRIAL policy , *POLITICAL competition , *PRESSURE groups , *POLICY sciences , *ECONOMIC development - Abstract
Most of the literature on the politics of industrial policy describes a policy realm that is dominated by business–state relations. This paper goes beyond this and proposes that, in democratic settings, political competition and civil society actors also play a vital role in industrial policy. Through a lens focused on Brazil during the 2000s, the study delves into the dynamics between the election of a centre-left party and the subsequent industrial policy, highlighting the interplay of democratic mandates, entrenched economic interests, and supportive developmental alliances. Notably, the continuation of a centre-left coalition and consistent institutional frameworks witnessed considerable shifts in industrial policy outcomes, which allows for an in-depth evaluation of interest group influence on policy formation and implementation. By triangulating data from 23 interviews with actors in the industrial policy process, data from the Brazilian National Development Bank (BNDES), and an analysis of industrial policy plans, this paper posits that the prevalence of economic issues in the electoral debate and the participation of societal actors in the policymaking process are enablers of innovation-focused industrial policies; this allows governments to countervail the power of incumbent sectors and undertake policies that are not favoured by the prevailing business interest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
6. Foreign Direct Investment in Developing Countries: Have We Reached a Policy 'Tipping Point'?
- Author
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Sumner, Andrew
- Published
- 2008
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
7. Return migration and the challenges of diasporic reintegration in Nigeria.
- Author
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Nwozor, Agaptus, Oshewolo, Segun, Olanrewaju, John S., Bosede Ake, Modupe, and Okidu, Onjefu
- Subjects
NIGERIAN economy, 1970- ,RETURN migration ,AFRICAN diaspora ,REMITTANCES ,IMMIGRANTS ,EXPERTISE ,ABILITY ,ECONOMIC development - Abstract
Nigeria is among the countries in Africa with the largest emigrant population as well as an impressive pool of annual remittances. Despite the importance of remittances in the matrix of national development, they are no substitute for the expertise and skills needed to drive the various sectors of the economy. Thus, since 1999, successive Nigerian governments have emphasised return migration as an important strategy to mainstream its diaspora into national development. In this vein, diverse policy efforts have been initiated to ensure its actualisation. The paper interrogates the continued currency and feasibility of return migration in the face of transnationalism and diasporic integration dilemmas. The paper uses qualitative data generated from primary and secondary sources to critically examine Nigeria's migration architecture. It finds that return migration is fraught with several integration dilemmas for returnees as they are confronted with adjustment crises on return. The paper contends that the transnational character of the Nigerian diaspora necessitates the adoption of policy options that recognise the universality of their contributions and thus do not require their relocation to the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2022
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
8. Religion and development: integral ecology and the Catholic Church Amazon Synod.
- Author
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Deneulin, Séverine
- Subjects
LIBERATION theology ,CLIMATE change ,ECONOMIC development ,SOCIAL change - Abstract
'Religion and development' is now a well-established research area within development studies. However, reflections on development from within the standpoint of religions remain largely unexplored. Interrogating processes of social change from a certain moral standpoint – whether some are more desirable or worthwhile than others – has been a defining characteristic of development studies throughout its history. The paper argues that, given these normative underpinnings, greater dialogue is needed with ethical frameworks among which reflections on development are conducted within religions. It argues that extending the moral standpoint from which to interrogate processes of social change to include that of religious traditions could contribute to development studies' ongoing reflections on the concept and meaning of development. The paper focuses on the reflections on development conducted from within the Catholic tradition, particularly Pope Francis's encyclical Laudato Si': On Care for Our Common Home, and its implementation in the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon Region. It argues that these reflections, which have moved the concept of development towards integral ecology, could contribute to broadening the normative basis of development studies more widely, and offer a more integrated approach for thinking about development and how societies should move into the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2021
- Full Text
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9. Chinese narrative in international development and volunteer tourism: a case study of a Chinese organisation's practice in Mathare, Kenya.
- Author
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Wang, Yi
- Subjects
VOLUNTEER tourism ,ECONOMIC development ,NARRATIVES ,POWER (Social sciences) - Abstract
Volunteer tourism has become an increasingly popular phenomenon over the globe in recent decades. However, less attention is being paid to the receiving end of volunteer tourism and there are rarely narratives from Chinese figures. This paper seeks to address this research gap not only in volunteer tourism, but in a broader context of international development. By analysing a Chinese volunteer tourism organisation's practice in Mathare, Kenya, this paper discusses the distinctiveness and commonality of the Chinese development approach from the national–international level to the grassroots level. It illustrates the rather polarised debate amongst the key stakeholders involved in this study, about prioritising the physical or psychological dimensions of the local needs, which further highlights the unchallenged structural inequality in Chinese development interventions of volunteer tourism. Considering forms of power among stakeholder groups and across levels, the research makes recommendations for Chinese volunteer tourism from which collaborations and a higher level of community empowerment can happen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2022
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
10. Beyond core and periphery: the role of the semi-periphery in global capitalism.
- Author
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Cairó-i-Céspedes, Gemma and Palacios Cívico, Juan Carlos
- Subjects
GLOBALIZATION ,CAPITALISM ,ECONOMIC development ,CLUSTER analysis (Statistics) ,MULTIPLE correspondence analysis (Statistics) ,ECONOMICS - Abstract
Capitalist globalisation has shown the need to define the semi-periphery as a new category that transcends the traditional core–periphery division. This paper aims to characterise this new category and understand the role it plays in the reorganisation of the production process, in addition to the effects this specific participation has on the global economy. Building on previous theoretical developments, this paper aims to analyse and identify these specific features, examining them through a set of economic, social and technological variables by applying principal component and cluster analyses. In doing so, the empirical analysis identifies a group of countries that have not been able to turn their current or recent economic dynamism into higher levels of socio-economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2022
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
11. Towards a conception of the systemic impact of China on late development.
- Author
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Lo, Dic
- Subjects
ECONOMIC development ,ECONOMIC conditions in China, 2000- ,GLOBALIZATION ,INTERNATIONAL trade ,INDUSTRIALIZATION ,LABOR - Abstract
The tremendous expansion of the Chinese economy since the turn of the century, especially in terms of its external dynamics, is of world-scale significance. It seems to justify the quest for appropriate conceptions of China's systemic impact on late development worldwide. A large number of scholarly studies have coalesced to analyse two crucial aspects of the impact, namely: impact on the performance of industrialisation and the condition of labour in the developing world. This paper seeks to critically appraise and reinterpret the existing studies. The appraisal is not so much a critique but rather an attempt to appropriately position the studies in the systemic context. It is submitted that the existing studies' focus on market competition, as the main form through which China's impact manifests, needs to be complemented and underpinned by the more fundamental consideration of productive investment. In the direction of constructing a systemic conception, it is further submitted that the China impact can potentially serve as a countervailing force against the prevailing dynamics of the world economy under neoliberal globalisation – ie the rising predominance of speculative finance that tends to crowd out productive investment, thereby hampering industrialisation and worsening labour conditions in the developing world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2020
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
12. The global significance of national inequality decline.
- Author
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Simson, Rebecca and Savage, Mike
- Subjects
EQUALITY ,INCOME inequality ,ECONOMIC development ,DEVELOPING countries - Abstract
Since the 1980s, inequality has been rising in Europe, North America and parts of Asia. How does our understanding of global inequality dynamics change if coverage is extended to the rest of the developing world? To rebalance the perspective on global inequality trends, this paper surveys data and literature on recent inequality trends in Latin America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. It finds that in these regions there are more countries with falling than rising inequality over the past 20 years, as measured by Ginis of income or consumption inequality. At the global level, therefore, there are signs of inequality convergence, as inequality has been falling in countries with high inequality in the 1990s (particularly Latin America), and rising in historically low-inequality countries. We discuss the political and economic drivers of inequality decline in countries with a steady fall in the Gini. This suggests some common trends across the globe, including the role of democratisation, the rise of new social movements, and the expansion of education and social safety nets and favourable commodity prices, in reducing income disparities. This paper calls for more country-level comparisons of inequality trends, to highlight the multiplicity of paths in this latest phase of globalisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2020
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
13. Should the African lion learn from the Asian tigers? A comparative-historical study of FDI-oriented industrial policy in Ethiopia, South Korea and Taiwan.
- Author
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Hauge, Jostein
- Subjects
INDUSTRIAL policy ,FOREIGN investments ,ETHIOPIAN economy ,ECONOMIC development ,ECONOMIC conditions in South Korea, 1960-1988 ,TAIWANESE economy ,MANUFACTURING industries ,INDUSTRIALIZATION ,GOVERNMENT policy - Abstract
Ethiopia's economy has been growing at breakneck speed for well over a decade now, earning the nickname as Africa's lion. In recent years, the development literature on Ethiopia has paid particular attention to the role of industrial policy, especially the ways in which the Ethiopian experience compares to that of the Asian tigers. But through this comparative-historical perspective, little attention has been devoted to an important aspect of industrial policy in Ethiopia – foreign direct investment (FDI) in the manufacturing sector. This paper compares FDI-oriented industrial policy in Ethiopia in the current era (particularly focusing on light manufacturing) to that of South Korea and Taiwan between 1960 and 1990, arguably the two most generalisable cases among the Asian tigers. The paper argues that FDI-oriented industrial policy in Ethiopia seems to be bringing about short-term economic benefits, and is showing promise for further industrialisation. At the same time, it could benefit from taking more lessons from the long-term economic development perspective that characterised South Korea's and Taiwan's approach to FDI. Such a long-term perspective most importantly includes pro-active strategies to transfer technology from foreign firms to the domestic economy and the creation of backward linkages from foreign to domestic firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2019
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
14. Development and the search for connection.
- Author
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Fechter, Anne-Meike
- Subjects
SOCIAL interaction ,ECONOMIC development ,HELPING behavior ,CITIZENS ,FACE-to-face communication - Abstract
The stated purpose of development is often characterised by the motivation to 'help' – that is, to intervene in the lives of others in supportive ways. This paper argues that this perspective has obscured how development activities are also animated by its twin desire to 'connect'. While this holds significance for development more broadly, it becomes particularly evident in a mode of assistance that has gained prominence more recently. These are privately funded, small-scale projects led by individual founders, here described as 'citizen aid'. Based on ethnographic research among citizen aid initiatives in Cambodia, the paper argues that the relevance of 'connecting' has been insufficiently recognised so far. It explores different aspects of what participants mean by 'making a connection', including face-to-face contact, direct experience of aid activities, and their tangible efficacy. It also finds that establishing interpersonal relationships across national, ethnic and cultural differences, while potentially challenging, is a key motivation for those involved. Finally, the paper argues that acknowledging the desire to connect questions notions of the 'distant stranger' as the archetypical humanitarian object, highlighting the wish for familiarity and closeness as potentially just as important for motivating and directing assistance to others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2019
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
15. A new Chinese modernity? The discourse of Eco-civilisation applied to the belt and road initiative.
- Author
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Weatherley, Robert and Bauer, Vanessa
- Subjects
BELT & Road Initiative ,INTERNATIONAL relations ,HUMAN ecology ,ECONOMIC development - Abstract
This article assesses the extent to which the official Chinese discourse of Ecological Civilisation (shengtai wenming) is adhered to in practise. Ecological Civilisation (or Eco-Civilisation) is presented as a Chinese vision of human progress which purports to de-couple economic development from environmental degradation. Underpinning the idea are five overlapping pillars (environment, economy, society, culture and governance) which, it is claimed, provide a theoretical framework to promote harmony between humanity and nature. Advocates see the concept as an example of a new Chinese modernity based on socialist values and President Xi Jinping has declared China a torchbearer of the global endeavour for Eco-Civilisation. However, our paper casts doubt over this assertion when applied specifically to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Although there is some evidence of a commitment to the principles of Eco-Civilisation, we identify a number of substantial and interlinking practical shortfalls relating to three core themes: inclusion, enforcement and transparency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2021
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
16. Leading sector and dual economy: how Indonesia and Malaysia mobilised Chinese capital in mineral processing.
- Author
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Camba, Alvin, Lim, Guanie, and Gallagher, Kevin
- Subjects
INDUSTRIAL policy ,ECONOMICS ,ECONOMIC development - Abstract
How do states pursue industrial policies in the context of China's rise? Examining Indonesia and Malaysia's mineral processing sectors, we argue that these countries illustrate two different pathways that states take to bolster their industrial policies. Indonesia has followed the leading sector strategy to increase domestic nickel processing capacity and decrease reliance on resource exports. Chinese firms and the Indonesian government built the Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park to house nickel smelters, fostering a new leading sector. Chinese capital in smelting follows what Albert Hirschman has called 'intermediate investments', maximising forward and backward linkages across the Indonesian economy. In contrast, Malaysia has followed the dual economy strategy, where semi-finished goods are imported and assembled into finished ones to be exported abroad. Chinese firms and the Malaysian government established the Malaysia–China Kuantan Industrial Park to import, process and export steel products. However, due to the dual economy strategy, the industrial park impairs the activities of domestic steelmaking companies and inhibits the potential build-up of smelting capacity. In sum, through an examination of an industrial park in each country, our paper connects the literatures on industrial policy and Chinese capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2022
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
17. How comprehensive is comprehensive? Using Wangari Maathai as a critique of the World Bank's contemporary development model.
- Author
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Harper-Shipman, T. D.
- Subjects
ECONOMIC development ,POVERTY reduction ,KENYAN economy ,ECONOMIC conditions in Africa ,DEBT ,CORRUPTION - Abstract
This paper asks how comprehensive and holistic is the World Bank's current development model, also known as the Comprehensive Development Framework (CDF), in Africa? By comprehensive and holistic, I am referring to whether the framework has the ability to capture the sources of all impediments to progress in different African contexts and offer corresponding solutions. I argue that the CDF is myopic and hackneyed. Not only does the World Bank employ the same neoliberal logic that informed structural adjustments, but it also continues to miss crucial non-material facets of development in the African countries it purports to serve. I make this argument by comparing the CDF/Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP) model in Kenya to the under-utilised development philosophy of Wangari Maathai. This comparison intimates that an alternative to the CDF is not only possible, but also necessary. Maathai demonstrates how any holistic development approach for postcolonial Africa must grapple with both international and domestic factors that historically and currently exacerbate the chrysalis of political, economic, and social progress. A comprehensive approach must also deal with the particulars of each context while not eliding the uniform histories of exploitation and purposive underdevelopment that many African countries share. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2019
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
18. State-owned enterprises and the political economy of state-state relations in the developing world.
- Author
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Nem Singh, Jewellord and Chen, Geoffrey C.
- Subjects
GOVERNMENT business enterprises ,ECONOMICS ,ECONOMIC development ,BUSINESS & politics ,BUREAUCRACY ,RENT seeking ,ECONOMIC reform ,ECONOMIC conditions in East Asia ,INTERNATIONAL cooperation ,DEVELOPING countries ,ECONOMIC history - Abstract
The literature on developmental states has built theories of growth-enhancing strategies through a mutually constitutive state-business relationship and institutionalised expertise through a professional bureaucracy. Whilst most evidence bears on the East Asian context, recent empirical work has focussed on state agency and new industrial policies in response to global market integration. Our paper contributes to this debate by exploring multiple patterns of state enterprise reforms that have enabled governments to generate competitive domestic firms. These reforms, then, lead to new theoretical insights as regards the diverse institutional arrangements co-constituting state-state relationships across countries and sectors. Overall, the paper views state-owned enterprises (SOEs) as complex organisations that bear new developmental capacities rather than vessels of rent-seeking interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2018
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
19. The Palestinian Economic Disengagement Plan from Israel: an opportunity for progress or an illusion?
- Author
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Fraihat, Ibrahim
- Subjects
AUTONOMY (Economics) ,ECONOMIC policy ,ECONOMIC development ,ARAB-Israeli conflict ,SOVEREIGNTY ,ISRAEL-Palestine relations - Abstract
The Palestinian Authority (PA), frustrated by the one-sided and zero-sum plan to end the Israeli–Palestinian conflict presented by former US President Donald Trump, has escalated efforts to diminish its reliance on Israel. In particular, the PA responded with plans to disengage from the Israeli economy and become more self-sufficient. This course of action has become known as the Economic Disengagement Plan (EDP). This paper explores the likelihood of the EDP creating development in the absence of Palestinian sovereignty and the extent to which the EDP may be capable of achieving Palestinian separation from the Israeli economy. It argues that the EDP is incapable of separating the Palestinian economy from Israeli in the absence of national sovereignty for the Palestinians over their land. However, while the EDP is not a strategy to achieve political or economic independence, it can contribute to Palestinians' somood (steadfastness) on their own land, build resilience and advance resistance against the Israeli occupation. To do so, the EDP needs to be placed within a broader national strategy of liberation and decolonisation, rather than being confined to the shackles of inequitable agreements that reflect the severe power imbalance between Israel and the PA, as is the case now. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2022
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
20. Offsetting the Development Costs? Brain drain and the role of training and remittances.
- Author
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Agbiboa, DanielEgiegba
- Subjects
INTERNATIONAL competition ,SKILLED labor supply & demand ,INTERNATIONAL economic relations ,ECONOMIC impact of emigration & immigration ,ECONOMIC development ,BRAIN drain ,DEVELOPING countries - Abstract
Over recent decades global labour markets have emerged and skill shortages in particular sectors have generated an international competition for the best and brightest. The developed world is seen to ‘poach’ this talent from poorer countries, with the resultant ‘brain drain’ undermining their capacity to develop. This paper calls into question the assumption that the emigration of the highly skilled will automatically represent a loss to the country of origin. The paper positions itself between the two extremes of brain drain as constituting a pure loss or a pure gain for sending countries and calls for a more moderate approach to skilled migration and its impact on development. The paper goes beyond the simple brain drain/brain gain dichotomy by looking at the flow of the skilled within specific geographic spaces and the resultant policy dilemmas and options. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]
- Published
- 2012
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
21. Forever North-South? The political challenges of reforming the UN development system.
- Author
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Baumann, M.-O.
- Subjects
ECONOMIC development ,DEVELOPING countries ,DIPLOMACY ,GLOBAL North-South divide ,INTERNATIONAL cooperation - Abstract
Member states of the United Nations (UN) agree that its development system needs substantial reform given its fragmentation and outdated structures, as well as new demands from the 2030 Agenda. Yet, a recent two-year reform process yielded no substantial reform decisions. Why did member states fail to endorse the necessary reforms despite almost unanimous recognition of the need for change? This paper describes member states’ conflicting positions on reforming the UN and analyses their failure to delegate authority to the UN development system. North and South, donors and recipients, are locked in a struggle for power and control, maximising bilateral influence at the expense of the benefits of multilateral cooperation. The paper contributes to the pool of UN studies, adding a decidedly political perspective of the reform process. It is based on diplomatic statements, negotiation drafts and interviews with UN diplomats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2018
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
22. Social policy for inclusive development in Africa.
- Author
-
Gumede, Vusi
- Subjects
SOCIAL policy ,ECONOMIC development ,SOCIAL integration ,SOCIOECONOMIC factors ,DISCOURSE ,POLITICAL leadership ,ECONOMIC policy - Abstract
The paper revisits the discourse on development in Africa, following in the footsteps of leading development thinkers and focusing on social policy. Some of the thinkers and scholars have specifically and directly discussed development discourse in Africa. Others have made insightful points regarding inclusive development in Africa even though not directly engaging with development discourse. The paper also acknowledges earlier thinking regarding development in Africa, including perspectives that deal with underdevelopment. The paper concerns itself with the critical role that social policy can play in ensuring inclusive development in Africa. The interface between economic and social policy is emphasised. Although Africa faces many intractable challenges, most of which are externally imposed, robust social policies will go a long way in bringing about effective social and economic development. In the main, though, Africa needs a comprehensive socio-economic development approach that can ensure lasting inclusive development. Social policies are critical for any development endeavour in African countries. Another main point that the paper makes is that economic transformation is not enough to fully advance wellbeing in Africa (and probably the world at large). By restructuring economies in Africa, not much would be achieved though some gains would be made. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]
- Published
- 2018
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
23. Reflecting the Post-Development gaze: the degrowth debate in Germany.
- Author
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Bendix, Daniel
- Subjects
ECONOMIC development ,EQUALITY & economics ,GLOBAL North-South divide ,POSTCOLONIALISM ,ECOFEMINISM - Abstract
Post-Development has reproduced the ‘development gaze’ by focusing on interventions and struggles in the South. This paper draws attention to the German version of degrowth, Postwachstum, as a possible Post-Development approach in the North. It thus contributes to the Post-Development agenda by including the North as a ‘development’ problem and by overcoming the view of the North as a homogeneous neo-liberal, capitalist, Eurocentric bloc. The paper examines key Postwachstum contributions with regard to their correspondence to insights of and gaps in the Post-Development debate. It argues that Postwachstum needs to include a postcolonial perspective on global inequalities and question the ‘development’–modernity–coloniality nexus more profoundly in order to provide a valuable contribution to the Post-Development agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]
- Published
- 2017
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
24. Mediating representations of poverty and development: a help or a hindrance?
- Author
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Keenaghan, Natasha and Reilly, Kathy
- Subjects
RED Nose Day (Great Britain) ,POVERTY in the press ,GLOBAL North-South divide ,ECONOMIC development ,OTHER (Philosophy) - Abstract
This paper explores the role of media, and in particular Comic Relief plea films (2013), in scripting understandings of poverty and development. The films represent a coding of poverty that is embedded with wider geographical imaginings that essentially abstract knowledge and produce assumptions about particular places that remain premised on hegemonic Global North ideas about the world and how it works. As a result the Global South is often constructed and represented through images that are ambiguous and uncritical, and greatly hamper understandings of everyday life in the South. Through the Comic Relief (2013) films, the paper explores soft understandings of poverty and development, considering Northern complicity in the (re)production of representations and the challenge of constructing causal responsibility through media discourses of problem-solving. This paper unpacks hegemonic Global North scripting of poverty and development through an examination of visual discourses, critiquing the construction of prioritised narratives and, by extension, pointing towards those knowledges that remain silenced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2017
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
25. The cynical state: forging extractivism, neoliberalism and development in governmental spaces.
- Author
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Merino, Roger
- Subjects
PERUVIAN politics & government, 2000- ,NEOLIBERALISM ,ETHNOLOGY ,ETHNIC relations ,ECONOMIC development ,INDIGENOUS peoples of Peru ,SOCIAL policy ,ENVIRONMENTAL policy - Abstract
Recent analyses of development and extractivism in Latin America discuss how neoliberal and post-neoliberal strategies under the political economy of resource extraction define the developmental trajectory of national regimes. As most accounts privilege the analysis of structural and historical conditions over everyday practices of state actors, this paper contributes to the discussion by explaining how extractivism and neoliberalism are shaped, reproduced and defended in governmental spaces, defining in this way the development path. On the basis of ethnography of the Peruvian state, in-depth interviews and an analysis of economic, environmental and pro-indigenous policies during 2000–2017, this paper analyses how under the development model of extractivism, governing elites deploy neoliberal or post-neoliberal development strategies and development tools while advancing contradictory development discourses. In this context, states are cynical because, despite progressive regulations and political discourses, everyday actions of governing elites reinforce institutional and ideological constraints on the effectiveness of rights. The promises of pro-indigenous and environmental social reforms are limited from their very formulation because the practices and imaginaries of governing elites are embedded in extractive structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2020
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
26. Economic transformation through political change? Evidence from Turkey.
- Author
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Akan, Taner
- Subjects
ECONOMIC development ,POLITICAL reform ,PRESIDENTIAL system ,CABINET system ,TURKISH politics & government ,SOCIAL institutions ,ECONOMIC conditions in Turkey - Abstract
Turkey recently initiated a political change by replacing its parliamentary model with the presidential governmental system (PGS) to achieve, inter alia, a structural transformation from an efficiency-driven to an innovation-driven model of growth. To investigate the PGS's potential for mediating such a change, this paper uses four key concepts of institutionalist analysis: systemic governance, credible commitment, institutional fragmentation and institutional traps. In doing so, the paper concludes that the PGS's potential to unleash a structural transformation towards an innovation-driven and high growth depends on the prospect of its mediating an imperative commitment in political and economic governance. This prospect proves to be weak due to both the PGS's institutional pillars and the path-dependent dynamics of the country's trap in efficiency-driven growth that have become embedded under a parliamentary model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2019
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
27. Lithium extractivism: perpetuating historical asymmetries in the 'Green economy'.
- Author
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Mejia-Muñoz, Sara and Babidge, Sally
- Subjects
- *
LITHIUM industry , *SUSTAINABLE development , *ECONOMIC development , *POWER (Social sciences) , *CAPITALISM - Abstract
The 'Green economy', a central plank of the sustainable development political and economic international agenda, relies on industrial extraction of water, minerals and other earths to produce 'green energy' to feed capitalist growth. The term Green extractivism describes a global problem that we examine through the case of lithium extraction in the territory of Atacameño-Likanantay (Indigenous) peoples in the Salar de Atacama, Chile. Green extractivism is a multiscalar logic and practice justified in international sustainable development policies, responding to the demands of capital, modifying international and national legal and political instruments, and permeating social, ecological and political realities in the territories of extraction. Green extractivism has many consistencies with the asymmetries of power and economic dependency that characterises the history of extractivism in Chile and Latin America. As such, Green extractivism provides a new logic to sustain consistencies in transnational capitalism. This paper traces national political and legal histories of lithium from the mid-twentieth century, demonstrating the long extractivist relationship between the state and the lithium companies that operate in the Salar de Atacama. We consider, in particular, the dynamics of Atacameño-Likanantay peoples' participation in and refusals of industry and state processes, which trouble extractivist logics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
28. Studying the developmental state: theory and method in research on industrial policy and state-led development in Africa.
- Author
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Ovadia, Jesse Salah and Wolf, Christina
- Subjects
ECONOMIC development ,INDUSTRIAL policy ,ECONOMIC conditions in Africa, 1960- ,PETROLEUM industry ,COMMERCIAL products ,GAS industry ,NIGERIAN economy, 1970- ,TANZANIAN economy, 1964- ,ECONOMICS - Abstract
This paper examines theoretical and methodological issues in the study of African developmental states. We argue that applying this concept beyond East Asia must take into account changes in the global economic context - in particular systemic tendencies towards deficient consumer demand - to uncover the conditions under which demand for commodity production remains or becomes expansionary. We further argue for a mixed methods case study approach to structural transformation, blending quantitative and qualitative evidence at multiple levels of analysis. The examples of concrete manufacturing and oil and gas in Nigeria and Tanzania illustrate our approach to researching state-led development in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2018
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
29. Regional Integration and Africa's Development Trajectory: meta-theories, expectations and reality.
- Author
-
Gibb, Richard
- Subjects
AFRICAN economic integration ,INTERNATIONAL economic integration ,ECONOMIC development ,ECONOMIC conditions in Africa, 1960- - Abstract
Regional integration remains an integral part of Africa's development strategy and has underpinned most pan-African development policies for the past 50 years. This paper explores the issue of regional integration in the context of 'development' theory and the neo-patrimonial state system in Africa. A central contention of the paper is that Western, Euro-centric conceptions of regionalism, particularly those centred on the market integration approach, have promoted a very biased understanding of regional integration in many parts of the developing world. Using southern Africa as an exemplar case study, the paper argues that the various meta-theories focused on explaining the political economy of regionalism, often closely allied to a development theory paradigm, fail to account for the nature, character and evolution of regional integration. Regional integration in sub-Saharan Africa has been conceived and analysed in the light of the market-led approach, modernity and development. Thus far, it is has failed. This paper therefore explores why market-led regional integration has failed and why, for the foreseeable future, it will continue to do so. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2009
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
30. Frames of self-reliance: an analysis of evolving international development discourse.
- Author
-
Neill, Rachel, Shawar, Yusra Ribhi, Kunnuji, Michael, Manoj, Malvikha, and Shiffman, Jeremy
- Subjects
- *
FRAMES (Social sciences) , *SELF-reliance , *LOW-income countries , *ECONOMIC development , *THEMATIC analysis - Abstract
Self-reliance has been advanced by policy actors as an aspirational objective by and for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) with evolution in framing over time. Most recently, it has been advanced by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) in an organisational strategy titled the Journey to Self-Reliance (J2SR). This paper identifies why self-reliance has evolved over time, how actors have supported its use, and implications for development practice. We identify self-reliance frames using peer-reviewed and grey literature and key informant interviews. Thematic analysis using framing theories was conducted. Self-reliance originates from a historical legacy of postcolonial scholarship, but it has been transformed from an emancipatory paradigm to a strategy championed by international donors. Three frames were identified: (1) the emancipatory frame, led by LMIC actors; (2) the reformist frame, led by donor agencies; and (3) the J2SR frame, led by USAID. We argue that while the J2SR frame is the most visible in today's discourse, the emancipatory frame continues to influence policy and rhetoric. This phenomenon reflects the importance of strategic ambiguity and the ability of the frame sponsor to exert power through ideas. It also represents the limits of donor agencies in instrumentalising frames to meet their institutional interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
31. Taking foreign aid and decoupling seriously: a framework for research.
- Author
-
Swiss, Liam and Ilonze, Princess C.
- Subjects
INTERNATIONAL economic assistance ,DECOUPLING (Organizational behavior) ,ECONOMIC development ,GLOBALIZATION - Abstract
This paper provides an overview of the institutionalist literature on decoupling. Based on that literature, it proposes an analytic framework to consider state characteristics that lead to decoupling: commitment, capacity and context, or 'the 3Cs'. Then, using this framework, it assesses what sorts of aid initiatives we would expect to see to answer the question 'How can aid reduce or increase decoupling gaps?' Finally, it presents several possible combinations of the 3Cs and examples of how the presence or absence of one or all of these components have increased or reduced decoupling in ongoing or concluded aid interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2021
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
32. The rise of an anti-politics machinery: peace, civil society and the focus on results in Myanmar.
- Author
-
Bächtold, Stefan
- Subjects
INTERNATIONAL economic assistance ,MYANMAR politics & government ,PEACEBUILDING ,PEACE ,ECONOMIC development ,NONGOVERNMENTAL organizations ,CIVIL society ,MYANMAR economy ,HISTORY of Myanmar, 1988- ,SOCIAL history - Abstract
‘Results’, ‘value for money’, ‘effectiveness’ and similar buzzwords have become commonplace in development cooperation and peace building. The use of technical instruments such as project cycle management and evaluations is hardly questioned anymore: these are presented as a minor shift of focus to make current practice more effective. This paper argues that there is far more to this shift: a machinery of practices and institutions has been installed that removes political questions on development or peace from the political realm and places them under the rule of technical experts. Drawing on a Foucauldian understanding of discourse analysis, the paper analyses how this machinery prioritises gradual reform, subjugates other approaches to societal change and reproduces power/knowledge networks in both the global South and North. Based on ethnographic field research in Myanmar, it also explores discursive strategies of local actors and assesses how they are aiming to create spaces to challenge this machinery. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]
- Published
- 2015
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
33. Aid and policy preferences in oil-rich countries: comparing Indonesia and Nigeria.
- Author
-
Fuady, Ahmad Helmy
- Subjects
INDONESIAN economy ,NIGERIAN economy ,INTERNATIONAL economic assistance ,POLICY sciences ,ECONOMIC development ,TWENTIETH century ,NIGERIAN history, 1960- - Abstract
This paper analyses the role of foreign aid in assisting development in two oil-rich countries: Indonesia and Nigeria. It seeks to understand the way foreign aid provided assistance to transform Indonesia from a ‘fragile’ state in the 1960s into one of the ‘Asian Tigers’ in the mid-1990s, and why it did not prevent Nigeria from falling into ‘African Tragedy’. The paper argues that foreign aid may help not only to finance development, but also to navigate policy makers’ policy choices. It shows how foreign aid may or may not help policy makers turn their policy preferences into action. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]
- Published
- 2015
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
34. The ‘state’ of postcolonial development: China–Rwanda ‘dependency’ in perspective.
- Author
-
Lisimba, Alpha Furbell and Parashar, Swati
- Subjects
DEPENDENCY theory (International relations) ,POSTCOLONIALISM ,IMPERIALISM ,ECONOMIC development ,INTERNATIONAL relations - Abstract
This paper aims to investigate the impact of China’s aid, trade and investments on the development trajectories in postcolonial Africa, focussed on Rwanda. The analytical framework of this study is informed by Helen Milner’s observation that ‘International political economy is a growth industry’. Furthermore, the study deploys dependency theory and world systems theory to examine how the global economic configuration operates though the hierarchy of core, semi-periphery and periphery among the states. Our focus on Rwanda is based on our observation that this small, landlocked, natural resources-deficient, aid-dependent country is an atypical destination for Chinese patronage and investments. We argue that as a non-resource rich country, Rwanda presents an anomaly, thus, underlining the gap in the existing knowledge on China–Africa engagements. We discuss the inherent dependency in the neoliberal economic structure and present a case for using dependency theory to understand and explain the contemporary globalised economy and emerging South–South cooperation. We conclude with a call for more in-depth cross-comparative research on China–Africa relations to grasp the magnitude of dependencies and economic transformations within postcolonial African states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2021
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
35. The not-so-great aid debate.
- Author
-
Engel, Susan
- Subjects
INTERNATIONAL economic assistance ,ECONOMIC development ,INTERNATIONAL cooperation on poverty ,POVERTY research ,INTERNATIONAL relations education ,INTERNATIONAL economic relations ,ECONOMISTS - Abstract
The ‘Great Foreign Aid Debate’ raged in the 2000s yet there are few overviews of it. This paper builds on heuristic classifications of the debate not to simply classify it, but rather to explore how it is perhaps not as ‘great’ as claimed and, in fact, is contributing to a narrowing of thinking about development possibilities. The paper explores the debate through the books released in the 10 years from 2001 that made both an academic and a media impact. It analyses what gets discussed and why and, equally importantly, what does not get discussed. In terms of what is missing, the paper posits that ‘left’ has disappeared and the progressive critique and support for aid has been left to scholars like Jeffrey Sachs and Jonathan Glennie. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]
- Published
- 2014
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
36. Reality and rumour: the grey areas of international development in Guatemala.
- Author
-
Clouser, Rebecca
- Subjects
ECONOMIC development ,GUATEMALAN economy ,RUMOR ,FEAR ,SOCIAL history - Abstract
In Guatemala, development projects and practitioners are frequently associated with rumours. These rumours, often related to suspicions of ulterior motives, have a high degree of potency and endurance. This paper investigates this relationship between development and rumour, focusing on some of the more prevalent rumours including robaniños (baby-stealers), religious rumours regarding the Antichrist and rumours related to vaccinations and sterilisation. As a counter to perspectives which essentialise a lack of education in the perpetuation of rumours, I explore how they become devices through which one can understand power imbalances and everyday violence(s) inherent in many development projects and processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2018
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
37. Colonised minds? Post-development theory and the desirability of development in Africa.
- Author
-
Matthews, Sally
- Subjects
ECONOMIC development ,PUBLIC demonstrations ,MODERNITY ,SELF-affirmation theory ,ECONOMIC history - Abstract
While post-development theory is very concerned with the ways in which development has impacted upon the countries of the Global South, there has been relatively little written on post-development theory from an African perspective. This paper identifies some of the ways in which post-development theory fails to adequately understand the African experience of development. In particular, I explore the difficulty that post-development theory confronts when faced with the continued desire on the part of many people in Africa for development. In his introduction to the new edition ofThe Development Dictionary, Wolfgang Sachs discusses this desire, noting that despite development’s many failures, many still associate the concept with self-affirmation and redress. He explains this continued desire for development as being indicative of the need for the decolonisation of the imagination. In this paper, I show some of the problems with this explanation and present alternative ways of understanding the persistence of the desire for development in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]
- Published
- 2017
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
38. Measuring state fragility: a review of the theoretical groundings of existing approaches.
- Author
-
Ferreira, Ines A.
- Subjects
DEVELOPING countries ,RANKING ,ECONOMIC development ,INTERNATIONAL law ,SOVEREIGNTY - Abstract
State fragility has become a resonant term in the development discourse over the past decade. In its early days it served as a catch-all phrase used by donor organisations to draw attention to the need to assist ‘fragile states’. In response to the call for a better understanding of how to deal with these countries, there was a surge in measures of fragility. However, it was not long before academics pointed to the murkiness and fuzziness of the term, and identified several caveats to most of the proposals for quantification. This paper reviews existing approaches to operationalise this concept, distinguishing between those that offer no ranking or only partial rankings of fragile states, and those providing ordinal lists of countries. The examination of their theoretical underpinnings lends support to the critical view that most existing approaches are undermined by a lack of solid theoretical foundations, which leads to confusion between causes, symptoms and outcomes of state fragility. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]
- Published
- 2017
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
39. Business as a development agent: evidence of possibility and improbability.
- Author
-
Blowfield, Michael and Dolan, Catherine S.
- Subjects
BUSINESS enterprises ,ECONOMIC development ,POVERTY reduction -- Social aspects ,CAPITALISM ,POVERTY reduction ,CAPITAL ,INDUSTRIES & society ,BUSINESS models ,POOR people ,PRIVATE sector ,DEVELOPING countries ,HISTORY - Abstract
An emphasis on making markets work for the poor has thrust companies into the role of ‘development agents’ – organisations that consciously seek to deliver outcomes that contribute to international development goals. This paper examines what business as a development agent means in terms of the promise, the conceptualisation and the developmental outcomes of several initiatives engaged in ‘bottom billion capitalism’. It argues that, while these initiatives are hailed as a solution for poverty, the benefits of such engagement must be weighed against other factors, including exclusion, the emphasis on capital assets and the reinterpretation of positive outcomes. The paper presents an alternative model of business as a development agent that better meets the criteria for a genuine development actor. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]
- Published
- 2014
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
40. Eastern Africa's tobacco value chain: links with China.
- Author
-
Smith, Julia, DeSouza, Lauren, and Fang, Jennifer
- Subjects
TOBACCO industry ,TOBACCO ,AGRICULTURE ,ECONOMIC development ,STATE capitalism ,AFRICA-China relations - Abstract
While debates continue about China's role in sub-Saharan Africa, there is growing consensus that China is a different kind of development partner. One distinct feature of Chinese partnerships is that they include support for the tobacco industry, a sector other donor states and institutions shun. Not only is tobacco a primary agricultural export in a number of Africa states, the state-owned Chinese National Tobacco Corporation is the largest tobacco company in the world. This paper analyses Chinese support for the tobacco industry in three states – Zimbabwe, Malawi and Zambia – documenting how co-operation is shaped by Chinese state capitalism and assessing the development and governance implications. Following an introduction situating the analysis within the context of China–Africa co-operation and tobacco's global value chain, Chinese engagement in each country is analysed. Findings indicate that, despite differences across case studies in terms of development outcomes, common governance implications are apparent. African elites initiated tobacco-related co-operation to meet their interests, but Chinese interests dominated implementation. Consequently, Chinese investments have maintained hierarchal governance of an exploitive and harmful industry. Analyses of Chinese African co-operation need to move beyond public–private paradigms and interrogate the nuances of Chinese state capitalism in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2020
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
41. Rents, knowledge and neo-structuralism: transforming the productive matrix in Ecuador.
- Author
-
Purcell, Thomas F., Fernandez, Nora, and Martinez, Estefania
- Subjects
RENT (Economic theory) ,ECONOMIC development ,STRUCTURALISM ,THEORY of knowledge -- Social aspects ,NATURAL resources - Abstract
This paper explores the relationship between ground rent, production and knowledge in Ecuador's neo-structuralist, state-led project to transform the productive matrix. Based upon insights from the Marxian approach to the critique of political economy, we interrogate how neo-structuralism has conceptualised the relationship between 'natural resource income' and 'knowledge-based' economic development. The paper argues that a rent-theoretical perspective, which takes seriously the regional unfolding of uneven geographical development in Latin America, can highlight the limits of a national development plan conceived according to the logic of Schumpeterian efficiency. In doing so, the paper identifies the contradictory relationship between natural resource exports, state-led 'knowledge'-based development and capital accumulation. On this basis the paper offers a historically and empirically informed critical analysis of selective import substitution industrialisation and vanguard science and technology strategies designed to transition Ecuador away from primary resource dependence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2017
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
42. Engendering social and environmental safeguards in REDD+: lessons from feminist and development research.
- Author
-
Bee, Beth A. and Sijapati Basnett, Bimbika
- Subjects
GENDER & society ,WOMEN ,FEMINISM ,ECONOMIC development ,SOCIAL participation ,FORESTS & forestry ,DEVELOPING countries ,INTERNATIONAL cooperation - Abstract
Drawing on feminist and development literature, this paper suggests several important lessons and considerations for building equitable approaches to REDD+. Specifically, we illustrate the conceptual and practical significance of women's participation for achieving the goals of REDD+ as well as the limits and opportunities for gendering participation in REDD+. We argue that the standing debates over how and in what context gender becomes instrumentalised, technicalised or institutionalised in development provide important cautionary tales for the implementation and reporting of REDD+safeguards. By doing so, this paper contributes to the growing literature on gender, development, natural resource management and REDD+. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2017
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
43. Maturing Sino-Africa relations.
- Author
-
Besada, Hany and O'Bright, Ben
- Subjects
AFRICA-China relations ,HISTORY of international economic relations ,INTERNATIONAL trade ,CHINESE investments ,ECONOMIC development ,MINES & mineral resources ,TWENTY-first century ,HISTORY - Abstract
It is argued that China's relationship with Africa has transformed into one defined by a dynamism and African agency, thereby lessening the hold the former previously had on Africa in the early days of this evolving alliance. First, the authors will conduct a literature review of historical Sino-African relations, from the early Han dynasty to its contemporary manifestations. The second section will continue with this analysis by focusing exclusively on the status quo of the Sino-African economic relationship, including analysis of trade flows, investments, development, economic cooperation, and Chinese support for regional integration. Finally, this paper will conclude with an elaboration of some key, emerging relationship areas, such as opportunities for China and Africa to collaborate on the achievement of the latter's Agenda 2063 and African Mining Vision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2017
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
44. Inhuman development? Technics as enframing or poiesis?
- Author
-
Parfitt, Trevor
- Subjects
ONTOLOGY ,TECHNOLOGY & society ,ECONOMIC development ,FRAMES (Social sciences) - Abstract
This paper will examine some of the ways in which development has been influenced by the body of ideas known as techne, or technics. This body of ideas focuses on a central theme that envisages technology broadly defined as developing its own impetus that removes it from the control of human agency and that begins to circumscribe and even control human agency. This can be seen as having various impacts on development, notably a subsumption of any concern for human development to issues concerning process and production of outputs. The paper focuses on the approach of Heidegger as he provides an account that places technology at the centre of human being, whilst helping to distinguish both the negative (enframing) tendencies and the emancipatory (or, as Heidegger might have it, poietic) possibilities of technics. The paper concludes by identifying some of these negative and emancipatory influences in the development context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2017
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
45. Whose feminism counts? Gender(ed) knowledge and professionalisation in development.
- Author
-
Narayanaswamy, Lata
- Subjects
ECONOMIC development ,GENDER ,FEMINISM ,PROFESSIONALIZATION ,INTERNATIONAL financial institutions ,WOMEN'S rights -- Societies, etc. ,NONGOVERNMENTAL organizations - Abstract
Gender and development (GAD) has become a transnational discourse and has, as a result, generated its own elite elements. This elitism has tended to be attributed to a Northern hegemony in how feminism has been articulated and then subsequently professionalised and bureaucratised. What has received less attention, and what this paper highlights empirically, is how Southern-based feminisms might themselves be sites of discursive exclusion. The paper interrogates these concerns through an analysis of how professionalisation is evidenced in feminist engagement among civil society organisations working on gender in New Delhi. The analysis suggests that efforts to create spaces for subaltern voices are constrained not only by the disciplining effects of neoliberal frameworks but also – and in tandem – by Southern elite feminist priorities. The implications of these findings are significant: processes of professionalisation and the elitism they engender may have the effect of potentially precluding the engagement of those people on the margins whose voices are so sought after as part of efforts to facilitate inclusive development. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]
- Published
- 2016
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
46. Economic transformations in Cuba: a review.
- Author
-
Torres, Ricardo
- Subjects
ECONOMIC reform ,CUBAN politics & government ,ECONOMIC development ,RESOURCE allocation ,SAVINGS ,TWENTY-first century ,ECONOMIC policy - Abstract
After Raul Castro’s accession to the presidency of Cuba, the country has witnessed the most far-reaching process of economic reforms for more than five decades. The government has expanded the private and cooperative sectors, has passed a new foreign investment law, restructured most of its old debt and has sought to end the long-standing dispute with the USA. Yet economic performance has been poor and the country faces significant challenges and contradictions arising from the reforms. This paper analyses the macroeconomic environment and the changes introduced by the Cuban government over the period 2007–15. While successful at restoring macroeconomic equilibria, restrictive macroeconomic policies have hurt economic growth, whereas growth- and efficiency-enhancing measures are yet to produce results. Moreover, transformation of the economic model is slow because of its many internal contradictions. The paper also discusses some of the main impediments to future change. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]
- Published
- 2016
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
47. China’s ‘New Silk Roads’: sub-national regions and networks of global political economy.
- Author
-
Summers, Tim
- Subjects
ECONOMIC development ,ECONOMIC globalization -- Developing countries ,TRANSPORTATION ,INFRASTRUCTURE (Economics) ,INTERNATIONAL economic relations - Abstract
This paper argues that the Chinese government’s ‘belt and road’ initiative – the Silk Roads vision of land and maritime logistics and communications networks connecting Asia, Europe and Africa – has its roots in sub-national ideas and practices, and that it reflects their elevation to the national level more than the creation of substantially new policy content. Further, the spatial paradigms inherent in the Silk Roads vision reveal the reproduction of capitalist developmental ideas expressed particularly in the form of networks, which themselves have become a feature of contemporary global political economy. In other words, the Silk Roads vision is more of a ‘spatial fix’ than a geopolitical manoeuvre. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]
- Published
- 2016
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
48. A critical geography of poverty finance.
- Author
-
Rankin, KatharineN
- Subjects
POVERTY ,FINANCE ,ECONOMIC development ,POVERTY & society ,SUBPRIME mortgages ,POOR people ,DEVELOPING countries ,DEVELOPING countries -- Social aspects ,ECONOMICS - Abstract
This paper builds a critical geography of poverty finance with recourse to a relational comparison of the microfinance and subprime mortgage markets. It probes paradoxical claims about the nature of poverty, the poor, states and markets that have surfaced in the aftermath of the financial crisis. In doing so it aims to generate new understandings of neoliberal global finance with specific emphasis on 1) the social constitution of risk through racialised and gendered forms of difference; 2) the exercise of dispossession and imperialism by financial means; and 3) articulations of poverty finance with the social relations of debt in specific conjunctures. Each of these terrains of inquiry forms a subsection of the paper, following a preliminary section that poses the animating paradox in more detail. The paper concludes with some reflections on the conditions of possibility for democratising finance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2013
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
49. The Hidden Effect of Diaspora Return to Post-conflict Countries: the case of policy and temporary return to Rwanda.
- Author
-
Shindo, Reiko
- Subjects
IMMIGRANT resettlement services ,AFRICAN diaspora ,HUMAN geography ,ECONOMIC development ,EMIGRATION & immigration ,EMIGRATION & immigration services - Abstract
In response to the paucity of human resources in post-conflict societies, various agencies have implemented programmes to facilitate returns of qualified diasporas to their countries of origin. This paper examines the context in which diaspora return programmes have emerged and developed, and implications of the return programmes for post-conflict societies. It specifically looks at Migration for Development in Africa (mida) using the example of Rwanda. The paper demonstrates that the prime purpose of diaspora return programmes is to mitigate the effect of brain drain caused by migration from the South to the North. Furthermore, the paper argues that a secondary purpose of the programmes can be to secure a chance of return for diasporas who would like to return to their countries of origin but would like to stay away from the politics of these countries. In conclusion, the author suggests that diaspora return may increase the multiplicity of voices available in countries that tightly control dissident voices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2012
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
50. Reframing Development through Collaboration: towards a relational ontology of connection in Bawaka, North East Arnhem Land.
- Author
-
Lloyd, Kate, Wright, Sarah, Suchet-Pearson, Sandie, Burarrwanga, Laklak, and Country, Bawaka
- Subjects
ECONOMIC development ,YOLNGU (Australian people) ,FAMILIES ,INDIGENOUS peoples ,PARTICIPANT observation - Abstract
This paper draws on the collaborative experiences of three female academics and three generations of Yolŋu women from an Aboriginal family from Bawaka, North East Arnhem Land to contribute to debates in development around participation, power and justice. Through a reflection on the process of collaboratively co-authoring two books and associated outputs, the paper discusses the way the collaboration is guided by collective priorities that are held as paramount: trust, reciprocity, relationships and sharing goals. The paper draws particular attention to the essential role that families and non-human agents play in shaping these priorities. The relational ontology which underlies this collaboration is inspired by a Yolŋu ontology of connection that requires us to acknowledge ourselves as connected to each other, to other people and to other things. Guided by this Indigenous ontological framework, we reframe the concept of collaboration and of development as inherently and always relational. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2012
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
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