The Delusion of Knowledge Transfer The Impact of Foreign Aid Experts on Policy-making in South Africa and Tanzania / Susanne Koch & Peter Weingart.
Material type:
TextPublisher: Project Muse, Manufacturer: Project MUSE, Description: 1 online resource (xi, 383 pages) : illustrationsISBN: 9781928331407; 1928331408Subject(s): Technical assistance -- Tanzania -- Evaluation | Technical assistance -- South Africa -- EvaluationGenre/Form: Electronic books. | Electronic books. Additional physical formats: Print version:: No titleLOC classification: HC800 | .K634 2016Online resources: Full text available: | Item type | Current library | Call number | URL | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds |
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eBook
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Digital Library
Resources in this library are accessible in digital format e.g. eBooks or eJournals accessible online. |
HC800 .K634 2016 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) | Link to resource | Available |
Issued as part of book collections on Project MUSE.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 347-380).
Introduction. Perpetuating dependence : expert advice as tool of foreign aid -- 1. Knowledge transfer to young democracies : issues of legitimacy, sovereignty, and efficacy -- 2. Accessing the world of development aid : study design and fieldwork -- 3. South Africa and Tanzania : two different types of ‘donor darlings' -- 4. Multiple actors, colliding interests : the main players of the aid game -- 5. Intricacies of expert advice in the aid context -- 6. Retaining autonomy of agenda-setting in dealing with advice : structural conditions -- 7. The impact of expert advice on policy-making in young democracies : sector studies -- 8. There is no substitute for local knowledge : summary and conclusion.
Open Access Unrestricted online access star
With the rise of the 'knowledge for development' paradigm, expert advice has become a prime instrument of foreign aid. At the same time, it has been object of repeated criticism: the chronic failure of 'technical assistance' - a notion under which advice is commonly subsumed - has been documented in a host of studies. Nonetheless, international organisations continue to send advisors, promising to increase the 'effectiveness' of expert support if their technocratic recommendations are taken up. This book reveals fundamental problems of expert advice in the context of aid that concern issues of power and legitimacy rather than merely flaws of implementation. Based on empirical evidence from South Africa and Tanzania, the authors show that aid-related advisory processes are inevitably obstructed by colliding interests, political pressures and hierarchical relations that impede knowledge transfer and mutual learning. As a result, recipient governments find themselves caught in a perpetual cycle of dependency, continuously advised by experts who convey the shifting paradigms and agendas of their respective donor governments. For young democracies, the persistent presence of external actors is hazardous: ultimately, it poses a threat to the legitimacy of their governments if their policy-making becomes more responsive to foreign demands than to the preferences and needs of their citizens.
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