Description
Book SynopsisThe development industry has been criticized recently from very diverse quarters. This book is a nuanced and original investigation of Northern donor agency personnel as they deliver aid in Tanzania. The author explores in particular how donor identities are manifested in the practices of development aid, and how calls for equal partnership between North and South are often very different in practice. She demonstrates the conflicts and tensions in the development aid process. These reflect both the longstanding critique of the Eurocentric nature of development, and discourse that still assumes images of the superior, initiating, efficient 'donor' as opposed to the inadequate, passive, unreliable 'partner' or recipient.
This book will be useful to students seeking an introduction to postcolonial studies and the ways in which it can throw light on contemporary social realities, and to scholars interested in the ethnographic realities of aid delivery.
Trade Review'On the basis of an excellent analysis of the Nordic intervention in East Africa, Maria Eriksson Baaz takes us into the compexity of a difficult dialogue between aid to development and politics of identities. This is a remarkable study that will serve as a firm and well thought out introduction to postcolonial studies in general.'
V. Y. Mudimbe
'The post-colonial discourse has been somewhat lacking in empirixal substance. This is, therefore, a much welcomes and fascinating book on the construction of identity in the development industry.'
Bjorn Hettne
'Development theorists are beginning to acknowledge that aid workers reproduce and thrive on postcolonial representations of identity. The African "other" is sometimes seen through a romantic lens, more often a derogatory one: passive, corrupt and dangerous. Eriksson contributes to this emerging body of work by exposing and contextualising such racist assumptions.'
Emma Crewe, University of Warwick
'The Paternalism of Partnership is an important contribution to the development literature. The development industry is no stranger to criticism. Recent critiques have drawn on post-colonial approaches for their attack on the Euro-centric nature of much development policy and praxis, but few have explored detailed case studies. Eriksson moves the analysis to another level, examining the discourses, identities and politics of Nordic donor agents in Tanzania. Her grounded, in-depth analysis demonstrates the exciting potential of post-colonial approaches, both for illuminating the complexities of grassroots aid delivery and for understanding the impact of global development discourses policy and praxis. This book is a landmark study that will attract attention from students and scholars.'
Jane Parpart, Lester B. Pearson chair in international development studies at Dalhousie University, Canada
Table of Contents
- Preface
- 1. Identity and development aid
- 2. 'The white man's burden' and other stories
- 3. Situating identity in the development aid context
- 4. The omniscient self and the backward, passive and unreliable partner
- 5. The equal partner and politics of desire
- 6. Concluding remarks
