Development Organizations

Rebecca Schaaf

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9781134122783
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Scienze fisiche
• Subtopic: Geografia

Continuing debates over the meaning of development and awareness of the persistence of poverty have resulted in increasing concern over how to 'do' development. There are growing numbers of development organizations, undertaking different activities, at different scales, with different motivations, and differing levels of success. It is necessary to identify and evaluate these varied organizations, in order to recognize their successes and failures.

Development Organizations is the first introductory text to focus specifically on the variety of organizations involved in development policy and practice. It explores the range and role of organizations, including community-based organizations and civil society actors, international non-governmental organizations, state and other national-based actors, global forms of governance, international financial institutions and transnational corporations. The historical and contemporary role of each of these actors is considered, with analysis of complex theoretical debates surrounding their existence and their activities. The book also explores the political and contested nature of development activities promoted by these organizations, and their effects on society, the economy and the environment. These issues are also considered in context of the Millennium Development Goals; the agenda which currently impacts on the operation and outcomes of the broad range of development organizations.

This invaluable text is richly complimented throughout with case studies to help illustrate the operations of development organizations; from the impact of multinational oil companies in the Niger delta to the impact of IMF reforms in Latin America and the Caribbean. This clearly written and user friendly text contains a wealth of features to assist student learning, including start of chapter learning outcomes, and end of chapter summaries, discussion topics, and suggestions for further reading and relevant websites.

1

Doing development

Learning goals

• To recognize the continuing need for development.
• To have an outline of the range and role of development organizations that exist, and the complex networks of activity in which they are engaged.
• To understand that development is a contested concept whose definition has changed over time and according to perspective.
• To appreciate that development is often viewed as something that is done, that can be achieved, but that this is not the only way to understand development.
• To have an awareness of the major changes in development understanding over the past 65 years.
• To be familiar with the contemporary agenda of Millennium Development Goals.

Introduction

Have you ever donated money to a charity working in sub-Saharan Africa, or used an online system to contribute to an appeal following a natural disaster: the Indian Ocean tsunami or Haiti earthquake perhaps? Do television campaigns highlighting the extent of child poverty provoke an emotional reaction, or do you find yourself questioning why such inequalities in conditions still exist today? Have you ever participated in an event to raise money for a charity working in a developing country, or used your mobile phone to send money in support of a particular appeal? If you can relate to these examples, then you have contributed or connected to some of the organizations that exist within the development sector. You have also engaged with the continuing reality of poverty across the globe, and the continuing justification of strategies implemented by organizations that aim to achieve development.

However, have you considered why these development organizations were established and why they adopt particular strategies and tactics, including those that you might have participated in? Are you aware of how they operate with the many other organizations within the development sector, or how effective they actually are in meeting their own goals or the aims of development policies? This book addresses these various issues in order to explain which organizations are involved in development and how they have evolved in the modern era of development, and to evaluate their motivations, strategies and the outcomes of their activities.

The need for ‘development’

More than half of the people of the world are living in conditions approaching misery. Their food is inadequate. They are victims of disease. Their economic life is primitive and stagnant. Their poverty is a handicap and a threat both to them and to more prosperous areas.

(Truman 1949)

This quotation, from a speech by the president of the United States of America in 1949, represented recognition of the existence of poverty in many parts of the world and inequalities within and between countries. It also heralded the post-war modern era of development, as Truman advocated that countries with greater material, industrial and scientific wealth should work to assist other nations to achieve a better life. He argued that, ‘for the first time in history, humanity possesses the knowledge and the skill to relieve the suffering of these people’, and that wealthier nations ‘should foster capital investment in areas needing development’, representing ‘a worldwide effort for the achievement of peace, plenty, and freedom’ (Truman 1949). This optimism about the power of investment and technology, and the emphasis on cooperation to achieve global goals, defines the early post-war era of development. However, the results of this worldwide effort were rather mixed.

The past quarter century has seen great progress in developing countries. In virtually all of them, income has risen faster than population, with a consequent rise in income per person. Economic growth has been accompanied by a rapid expansion of education systems, growing literacy, improvements in nutrition and health conditions, increasing technological sophistication, and structural changes, including a growing industrial base and greater urbanization.

(World Bank 1978:1)

And yet despite this impressive record, some 800 million individuals continue to be trapped in what I have termed absolute poverty: a condition of life so characterized by malnutrition, illiteracy, disease, squalid surroundings, high infant mortality, and low life expectancy as to be beneath any reasonable definition of human decency … the twin objectives of development, then are to accelerate economic growth and to reduce poverty.

(McNamara, cited in World Bank 1978:iii)

Truman’s early optimism and identification of poverty as a problem, and development as its solution, are reflected in the first World Development Report (WDR) produced around 30 years later by the World Bank. However, another 30 years on, the language is depressingly familiar, as the 2010 World Development Report admits that ‘the needs remain enormous, with the number of hungry people having passed the 1 billion mark this year for the first time in history. With so many still in poverty and hunger, growth and poverty alleviation remain the overarching priority for developing countries’ (World Bank 2010:2). Figures 1.1, 1.2 and 1.3 demonstrate the continued existence of poverty and the persistence of significant global inequalities in development, while Plate 1.1 depicts the poor quality of housing and living conditions in Asia’s largest slum, Dharavi in Mumbai. In particular, South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa demonstrate significantly lower levels of income, education and health attainment in comparison with other regions. It is clear, therefore, that there is a continuing need for development to address issues of poverty, inequality and environmental degradation. It is this need that has resulted in the emergence and evolution of a wide range of organizations involved in addressing aspects of the development process and attempting to enhance people’s quality of life.

Figure 1.1 GNI per capita in 2011 in PPP terms

Source: based on data from UNDP (http://hdr.undp.org).

Figure 1.2 Expected years of schooling (of children)

Source: based on data from UNDP (http://hdr.undp.org, accessed 2012)

Figure 1.3 Life expectancy at birth (years)

Source: based on data from UNDP (http://hdr.undp.org, accessed 2012)

Plate 1.1 Living conditions in Dharavi, Mumbai, India: Asia’s largest slum.

Source: erin from Evanston. (CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)), via Wikimedia Commons.

Range and role of development organizations

Organizations involved in the development process vary considerably, in terms of their scale and scope, the focus of their activities, their power, their sphere of influence, their evolution and their geographical location. They include the global governance organizations of the UN system, international financial institutions including the World Bank and International Monetary Fund that provide financial and technical assistance to developing countries and transnational and multinational corporations and the foundations connected to them, all with global reach and power to shape countries, regions and individual lives. There are also thousands of non-governmental organizations engaged in development work, from the international giants like Oxfam and Save the Children, to community-based organizations offering microfinance services to the local population. Civil society movements are also involved in the development process, perhaps campaigning for better rights for workers, or acting to highlight injustices and raise awareness of issues. Faith-based organizations have always been important actors in development and their relevance has increased in recent times due to variations in religious tolerance and the increased visibility of religious fundamentalism. For these smaller organizations, their power and funding may be limited but their reach, relevance and effectiveness may be far greater.

At national level, the state remains an important development actor, and is influenced by research institutes, think-tanks and academia. The state can also exert influence in developing countries through the military, particularly in immediate post-conflict situations and after natural disasters. Groupings of nation states are also important actors; for example the Group of 8 (G8) and the Group of 20 (G20) major economies and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) wield considerable financial power and political influence. The range of development organizations and the focus of their activities are summarized in Table 1.1. Together, they comprise what has been termed the development sector, industry or community.

Table 1.1 Summary of development organizations and actors

Organization	View of development/development theory	Activities and scale of focus
UN agencies	Evolved over time. Initial dominance of modernization theory. It is an organization of nations therefore the role of the state is key	Global scale: can set development agenda, provide technical, military and monetary assistance. Large range of areas of activity and partners
International financial institutions (IFIs)	Neoliberal view, particularly since the 1980s, with some softening of focus on market dominance in recent years	Global scale: can set agenda and provide considerable monetary assistance, usually provisional on implementation of national strategies
Regional governance organizations and regional IFIs	Neoliberal view, but continued power of the state as regional entities are ultimately representing national interests	Regional scale: can be involved in aid provision within or from the region. Emphasis on promoting economic and social progress within a region
(International) non-governmental organizations (NGOs)	Grassroots approach, with emphasis on sustainability, participation, empowerment and a rights-based approach to development	Varies according to size of the organization. Can include small-scale community-based projects, lobbying governments and corporations, fundraising and awareness-raising and distribution of aid
State	Modernization theory saw a key role for the state, while the neoliberal era saw its role drastically altered to focus on the reduction of regulation and the privatization of profits. Increased contemporary regulatory role particularly as a result of economic recession	Local to national government activities. Includes infrastructure and service provision, welfare provision, tax collection, economic strategy, etc.
National development research organizations	Development view guided by contemporary theory and academic perspective and background	Research, consultancy, government briefings, publication and dissemination
Military	Short-term perspective on the development process, with particular emphasis on seeking and implementing technical solutions	Peacekeeping, peace-building, post-conflict reconstruction and development
Community-based groups	Grassroots approach	Small-scale community-based activities, including small projects, microfinance services, small enterprise development, education schemes, etc.
Other civil society movements and organizations	Grassroots, rights-based approach	Can operate at a range of scales, with local events prompting global action
Transnational corporations and other private companies	Neoliberal view, representing the market and drawing on benefits of globalization and the freer movement of people, goods, services, money	Can be small companies or global corporations with operations in variety of countries. Emphasis on seeking economic comparative advantage
Philanthropic organizations, including foundations	Funding potential of contemporary foundations often made possible through adherence of private companies to neoliberal principles. Funding from foundations is provided to organizations representing a range of development approaches	Varies according to the size of the organization. Can have financial and political power to influence global agendas and undertake a multiscale approach, with activities at global and local levels

Table 1.1 demonstrates a number of key issues. First, the wide range of organizations or actors to be considered. Second, that each type of organization is guided by a particular view of the development process, and that this view may well change over time. Third, that the range and role of development organizations has expanded and altered over time. In particular, the dominance of the state as the development actor in the first part of the twentieth century has been superseded by a more complex network of organizations of different sizes, goals, activities, power and scope.

A network of development organizations

Over the past 60 years, a large and complicated network of organizations involved in the creation and implementation of development policy and practice has evolved. Rather than view these organizations as a hierarchy, with the multilaterals including the UN and the large multinational corporations at the top of the development tree, this book argues that it is far more effective and realistic to understand each organization as part of an increasingly complex network of interactions, flows and interdependencies. Within this network, organizations can, and do, work together to influence the development process and drive the development agenda. A network perspective also highlights the varying strengths and weaknesses of each type of organization, and helps to demonstrate how a collaborative and context-specific approach to development has evolved.

The value of exploring the development community as a network is that it draws attention to the relationships between organizations, as well as the organizations themselves. In particular, it helps to recognize the role of horizontal, as well as vertical, connections between and within organizations, and in doing so the importance of scale and place is evident. It also emphasizes the importance of power, conflict and the decision-making activities that take place through these connections and relationships. For example, a large international non-governmental organization (INGO) will have groups of employees working on different aspects of its operation, including fundraising, education, disaster response, longer-term development projects and head office functions. There is considerable potential for conflict within these horizontal relationships, perhaps related to decisions over the strategic direction of the INGO, the allocation of resources to different departments or teams and the tension between humanitarian relief and development activities (Nederveen Pieterse 2010). The INGO will also have more vertical relationships to local NGO partners ‘on the ground’, wh...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• List of plates
• List of figures
• List of tables
• List of boxes
• List of acronyms and abbreviations
• Acknowledgements
• 1. Doing development
• 2. Supranational governance
• 3. International financial institutions
• 4. The state
• 5. Private-sector organizations and global trade and investment
• 6. International non-governmental organizations
• 7. Community-based organizations and civil society
• 8. Conclusion: doing development in a globalized world
• Bibliography
• Index