Synopses & Reviews
The 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.
Review
"On the basis of an excellent analysis of the Nordic intervention in East Africa, Maria Eriksson Baaz takes us into the complexity 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, Duke University
"An important contribution to the development literature... 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, Dalhousie University, Canada
"The post-colonial discourse has been somewhat lacking in empirical substance. This is therefore a much welcomed 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. Baaz contributes to this emerging body of work by exposing and contextualizing such racist assumptions."--Emma Crewe, University of Warwick
About the Author
Maria Eriksson Baaz is a Researcher at the Department of Peace and Development Research (Padrigu), Goteborg University.
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
Notes
References
Index