Format:
1 Online-Ressource (xiii, 303 pages)
Edition:
Online-Ausg. [S.l.] HathiTrust Digital Library Electronic reproduction
ISBN:
1558493921
,
155849393X
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1613760825
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1281108979
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9781558493926
,
9781558493933
,
9781613760826
,
9781281108975
Content:
Since the 1960s, Thomas W. Dichter has worked in the field of international development, managing and evaluating projects for nongovernmental organizations, directing a Peace Corps country programme, and serving as a consultant for such agencies as USAID, UNDP, and the World Bank. On the basis of this experience, he has become an outspoken critic of what he terms the "international poverty alleviation society". He believes that efforts to reduce world poverty have been well-intentioned but largely ineffective. On the whole the development industry has failed to serve the needs of the people it has sought to help.; To make his case Dichter reviews the major trends in development assistance from the 1960s through to the 1990s, illustrating his analysis with 18 short stories based on his own experiences in the field. The analytic chapters are therefore grounded in the daily life of development workers as described in the stories. Dichter shows how the development organizations have often become caught up in their own self-perpetuation and in public relations efforts designed to create an illusion of effectiveness. Tracing the evolution of the role of money (as opposed to ideas) in development assistance, he suggests how financial imperatives have reinforced the tendency to sponsor time-bound projects, creating a dependency among aid recipients. He also examines the rise of careerism and increased bureaucratization in the industry, arguing that assistance efforts have become disconnected from important lessons learned on the ground.; Ultimately, Dichter calls for a more light-handed and artful approach to development assistance, with fewer agencies and experts involved. His stance is pragmatic, rather than ideological or political. What matters, he says, is what works, and he maintains that the current practices of the development industry are simply not effective
Note:
Includes bibliographical references (pages 297-299) and index
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Use copy Restrictions unspecified star MiAaHDL
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Introduction/The Great Paradox of Development Assistance -- Romance -- Illusion -- The Developing World and Its Condition -- A Straw in the Wind -- Being Useful or Being Used -- The Evolution of the Idea of Development -- Warm Bodies -- Sliding toward Dependency -- Development Assistance as an Industry (the "Dev Biz") -- Trying Simply to Help -- Avoiding History -- The Helper and the Helped -- Confusing Stakes -- The Consequences of Avoiding Certain Universals of Human Nature -- Spare No Expense -- the Very Best -- For the People, By the People -- The Mismatch of Organizational Imperatives and Money -- Position, Not Condition -- Headless Chickens -- The Professionalization of Development -- Too Many Cooks -- Rhetorical Support -- Marketing Development -- Unintended Consequences -- The People's Program -- Conclusion/The Case for a Radical Reduction in Development Assistance.
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Electronic reproduction
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Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002.
Additional Edition:
ISBN 1558493921
Additional Edition:
ISBN 9781558493926
Additional Edition:
ISBN 155849393X
Additional Edition:
ISBN 9781558493933
Additional Edition:
Erscheint auch als Druck-Ausgabe Dichter, Thomas W Despite good intentions Amherst : University of Massachusetts Press, 2003
Language:
English
URL:
Volltext
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