This essay reflects on whether there is an irreconcilable tension between the use of methods sanctioned by Eurocentric conceptions of modernity and traditionalism to the design and implementation of development programmes and practices. In it the author will consider some of the evidence for this as set out in the literature and in so doing will consider and define some of the key terms in order to base the discussion on a stated understanding of the concept. It will then go on to consider both the claims made for modernity in a development context and the substantial body of critical literature to come to a conclusion about the extent to which modernity and traditionalism may be in conflict.
Author: Nick Stein Follow @nick_in_afrcia
Development is a fight between modernity and traditionalism. Discuss. (3420)
Latest Updates
Development – a fight between modernity and traditionalism?
To what extent do the arguments against development aid outweigh the case for aid in poor countries?
Development Aid works well in some contexts, has no impact in others, and at times can cause negative outcomes in what has become the increasingly complex business of aid. The literature is now saturated; everyone has an opinion on whether or not aid is a good idea, and if it works (however that is measured). Scholars have argued convincingly for both sides of the polarised debate, but there is only a small body of literature that recognises the growing complexities of aid, focusing on reforming and strengthening the case for aid in poor countries. This paper addresses the critiques for and against DA, but also demonstrates that the picture is not entirely negative and that much can be done to improve the system. The question is not just whether the arguments detailing why aid doesn’t work outweigh the case for aid but how we make aid more effective and efficient.
This paper will not provide detailed analysis of the econometrics of the debate since that has already been covered sufficiently nor will it provide discussion on emergency aid, trade or debt. This paper will focus on Development Aid, otherwise referred to as official development assistance (ODA), and defined as aid which is given either bilaterally (from government to government) or multilaterally (from agencies like the World Bank to governments in recipient countries). DA largely consists of grants and concessional loans that are invested in infrastructure projects (roads, dams, and ports), the provision of large public goods, as well as the more traditional balance of payments support.
This paper will provide a broader analysis that goes beyond ‘cherry picked’ case studies, choosing instead to focus on the structural constraints that prevent effective aid delivery and augment the arguments of DA’s critics. Aid does work and is likely to always exist in some form so let the debate not be a question of whether or not to provide aid and why, but rather, what we can do to improve aid delivery and how we can constructively use critiques against aid to improve the system.
Author: Hannah Taylor Follow @hftaylor
To what extent do the arguments against development aid outweigh the case for aid in poor countries? (4462)
The Learn Africa Project: Public Health, Applied Learning and Research Internship
Trevor Mattos is a Pike Scholar at Gordon College, Massachusetts. Earlier this year he and a colleague Miranda MacKinnon travelled to Togo, West Africa to direct a Development and Public Health project that had been planned since the previous year.
This project report details the establishment of the ‘The Learn Africa Project’ and highlights some of the challenges and planning required in establishing a community development and public health project from the base up in a Developing Country. It also highlights the principle research undertaken in preparation for the estabishment of the project.
Report Author: Trevor Mattos
Featured Projects
The Learn Africa Project: Public Health, Applied Learning and Research Internship
Trevor Mattos is a Pike Scholar at Gordon College, Massachusetts. Earlier this year he and a colleague Miranda MacKinnon travelled to Togo, West Africa to direct a Development and Public Health project that had been planned since the previous year.
This project report details the establishment of the ‘The Learn Africa Project’ and highlights some of the challenges and planning required in establishing a community development and public health project from the base up in a Developing Country. It also highlights the principle research undertaken in preparation for the estabishment of the project.
Report Author: Trevor Mattos
Demographic Dimensions and their Implications on the Incidence of Street Begging in Urban Areas of Central Tanzania: The Case of Dodoma and Singida Municipalities
This study explores the implications of demographic dimensions on the incidence of street begging in urban areas of central Tanzania with Dodoma and Singida Municipalities as case studies. This study was conducted on different days at different streets and public spaces in Dodoma and Singida Municipalities to obtain data on incidence of street begging. A cross-sectional survey was employed and involved 130 street beggars. Structured questionnaires were administered on randomly selected beggars to obtain data on their demographic dimensions. Group discussions, key informant interview, and observations were also used to collect data relevant for the study.
Authors:Baltazar M.L. Namwata, Maseke R. Mgabo and Provident Dimoso
Demographic Dimensions and their Implications on the Incidence of Street Begging in Urban Areas of Central Tanzania (7168)
Dadaab Refugee Camps, Kenya
With conflict and continuing uncertainty affecting the future of Somalia following the US backed Ethiopian invasion it is little wonder Somalis continue to flee their disintegrating country. Since the early 1990’s when large scale civil war broke out the Somali Diaspora has spread far and wide. Nearly a million have fled to already poor neighbouring countries and 400,000 of those headed south to Kenya. Though many have managed to return since there remains over 100,000 mostly Somali refugees in Northern and Eastern Kenya.
Featured Articles & Papers
From Abandonment to Inclusion: The Role of the State in Violence, Public Security and Human Rights in favela communities in Rio de Janeiro – The Case Studies of Santa Marta and City of God
Beginning in December of 2008, the State of Rio de Janeiro and federal government of Brazil began a new policy shift in securitizing favela communities. In an effort to combat the city’s drug traffickers and prevalent violence, the State began installing “pacification” or “peacekeeping” units in vulnerable favela communities. Following pacification, the State then increases investment in infrastructure and social programs.
Drawn from the authors’ experience of living in Rio, this award nominated paper looks at the evolving role of the State of Rio de Janeiro in recent years in two specific favela communities: Santa Marta and City of God. As the city prepares to host the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympic Games, preparations mount and the international community awaits to see what Rio is capable of accomplishing in their fight to eliminate the city’s famous drug trade and infamous violence. Will these preparations benefit those most marginalized? Or will it continue to push the socially excluded even further into the periphery?
After multiple failed security policies since the 1980s, recent actions and investments show the State’s new human rights based approach to security and social and economic investment. Fulfilling its national and international obligations of respecting, protecting and fulfilling the rights of all citizens while also moving forward on a path of progressive economic and social development, the State of Rio de Janeiro is entering a new era. Its new policies are battling a deeper embedded structural violence while enhancing the capabilities of formerly deprived citizens. Santa Marta and City of God serve as case studies in analyzing the State of Rio de Janeiro, its fulfillment of human rights obligations and its progressive path of economic and social development in favela communities.
Author Mary E. Robbins
From Abandonment to Inclusion: The Role of the State in Violence, Public Security and Human Rights in favela communities in Rio de Janeiro, The Case Studies of Santa Marta and City of God (5095)
Hii Dunia – New Editor Wanted
Dear Readers,
Although almost dormant for the last few months, Hii Dunia has for nearly nine years being regularly posting articles, papers and blog posts on Global Development and Environmental subjects. It’s goal was to aid and expand the discourse in these areas by publishing online pieces of work that may otherwise have only been read by a tutor and the author themselves.
From first appearing as a blog in 2006 posting short-form articles, re-edited chapters from submitted academic papers and even a photograph of the day (!?) it slowly expanded to become www.hiidunia.com and published full academic papers in either abridged or in full form as well as a link to a PDF of the original paper.
Hii Dunia was nominated for an award early on and has also received lots of praise particularly for the addition of it’s extensive Development Directory page – which is still one of the largest freely available online Directories of its type.
Promoting the contributors to the site has been key and the community that has built up as a result has been one of the unforeseen delights of Hii Dunia. The site has gained 2000 Twitter followers and still attracts high traffic. Some papers we’ve posted have gained many thousands of views and have been cited elsewhere including in PhD Theses.
It is with some sadness therefore that I am advertising here for a new Editor to take over the reigns at Hii Dunia. My career has shifted in the last few months and whilst I’m very happy with where it’s headed I have now found it impossible to give the site the attention it requires. Therefore I’m looking for someone to take over – ideally with a passion for Global Development, who wants to make contacts within the sector and who believes that as much Global Development material as possible should be fully in the public domain.
Perhaps you are a student looking to enhance your CV and wanting to learn more form the papers you’ll publish? Perhaps you’re new to the sector and want to form links with practitioners, academics and students within it too?
The possibilities are endless. I think I’ve only begun to explore what can be done with a platform like this. You would have ‘the keys’ to Hii Dunia, all the assets such as logos etc and make the changes you see fit. Maybe you would want to orientate it more towards project work – collecting experiences of Development practitioners in the field? Expand it’s presence on Social Media? Completely change the look and layout? As editor it would be up to you.
The main tasks as Editor include making contact with potential contributors, requesting papers and other content that you both feel is suitable for the site. Keeping all the other aspects of the site up to date – checking for broken links in the Directory for example, contacting contributors to update their profiles and posting regular Social Media updates. You will need to have a working knowledge of Wordpress alongside photo editing software such as Photoshop.
If this sounds like something that might be of interest to you email me at editor@hiidunia.com giving a little bit of background about yourself, what you do, why you want to take on Hii Dunia and the direction you might take it. If you have the passion and dedication to run a site like this I’ll be happy to hand it over.
Editing Hii Dunia has been a extremely rewarding experience, its put me in touch with some fantastic people within the Development sphere and further afield and broadened my own as well as I hope it’s readers understanding of an increasingly vital subject. I hope the next nine years will be as rewarding as the first.
Daniel Corns
Editor
Large Scale Biofuel Projects in Mozambique: A Solution to Poverty?
There has recently been a large increase in global land acquisitions for fuel and food production. This has been spurred on by the combined global food, fuel and financial crisis. Speculators have been seeking out ‘cheap’ and what the investors and international development agencies term ‘idle land’ to occupy or lease. Large tracts of land are being allocated predominantly from developing nations such as Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe – and in the majority of cases the land is not ‘idle’ at all.
The large scale biofuel industry plays a significant role in this and has expanded rapidly in recent years, particularly in Mozambique. In this thesis the author aims to examine whether developing nations such as Mozambique have achieved poverty reduction through large scale biofuel projects and the assesses the impact it has made on many ordinary landowners in that country.
Author: Claire Burgess Follow @Claireburgo
Large Scale Biofuel Projects in Mozambique: A Solution to Poverty? (13256)
Is it better to be poor in a high-income or a low-income country? – Counter-intuitive reflections, measuring well-being and the impact of inequality
Common-sense may suggest that the poor in rich countries will live better lives than the poor in poor countries. After all, the amenities of modern living are at their disposal and, in most cases, the state provides their basic needs. On one level, this assertion is difficult to refute – with a few rare exceptions, the poor in wealthy countries do not experience the famine or extreme starvation we associate with ‘Developing World poverty’.
Is it better to be poor in a high-income or a low-income country? Counter-intuitive reflections, measuring well-being and the impact of inequality (2997)
However, in the last few decades we have begun to acknowledge that poverty is not just about material needs. There has been a growing understanding that happiness and well-being are central to human existence, and a growing awareness that poverty is actually a multi-dimensional phenomenon that also includes such life characteristics as lack of control over resources, lack of education, poor health and many other non-economic factors. Poverty is also ultimately experienced subjectively and the relationship between this subjective experience and objective life circumstances can at times be quite loose. Given this subjectivity, it is far less clear whether the subjective experience of being poor in a rich country can really be said to be in any way ‘better’ than that of being poor in a poor country.
This essay explores approaches to defining what is meant by ‘better’. It considers the impact of ideas such as Subjective Wellbeing, Happiness and Quality of Life, which focus as much on what people ‘internally’ think and feel about their lives as on the ‘external’ things they have or can do and defines a set of proxies by which this multi-dimensional idea of ‘better’ can be understood.
Author: Matt Haikin Follow @MattHaikin
Posted in Comment & Analysis, Development