German Polity Export a Critical Discourse Archaeology of the Political Objects of German Development Cooperation with Sub-Saharan Africa
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Universiteit van Amsterdam Graduate School of Social Sciences Research Master International Development Studies MSc Thesis German Polity Export A Critical Discourse Archaeology of the Political Objects of German Development Cooperation with Sub-Saharan Africa. “We are not asked to export our way of life, our forms of production, our political or social structures, but to help others find their own.” Erhard Eppler, 1971, 33 Thesis supervisor: Dr. ir. Y.P.B. Yves Van Leynseele Second reader: Dr. T.A. Mieke Lopes Cardozo Kolja Drescher 12784109 [email protected] Submission: Hannover, 31st of May 2021 Abstract As any discourse affects the real world, political objects in development aid discourse affect the political reality determines the lives of countless people. This paper examines the discourse of Germany as a donor in development aid, focusing on the establishment of “good” political structures. The existing literature has addressed different concepts of political objects (e.g., democracy promotion), their implementation, and effectiveness. Still, no attention has been given to the process of producing these ideas in the context of donors through public discourse. The objective of this research is to verify the assumption that Germany’s domestic political development influences political objects of its development cooperation and to explore whether this imposition can be understood as export of German polity. This qualitative study encompasses examining documents and semi-structured expert interviews as part of a Critical Discourse Analysis. By making use of Foucault’s approaches of archaeology, the analysis serves to unpack the continuities and shifts in the German discourse formation on polity export to Sub-Saharan Africa. Firstly, the results of this research show that the political objects of German development aid are heavily influenced by values and Germany’s domestic political development. Secondly, even though German actors emphasise the impossibility of simply ‘exporting’ Germany’s political architecture, implications in the discourse suggest that it would be desirable. Thirdly, German actors most actively highlight the exportability of the ordoliberal understanding of state and market relation. Therefore, this paper concludes that the German development discourse constantly reproduces superiority as well as guiding values and determines the German model of political economy as exportable. Based on these findings, the study offers one of the first systematic illustrations of developmental political objects and their discursive origins. Polity export - as conceptual model - can be used for further studies and critique. Keywords: Development Aid, Germany, Democracy Promotion, Foucauldian Discourse Analysis, Sub- Saharan Africa i Acknowledgements A Master's thesis with an obstinate and convoluted orientation such as this one would be impossible to implement and worthless without the degree of academic freedom and encouragement I received from my supervisor. Therefore, my sincere thanks go to my thesis supervisor Yves Van Leynseele, whose patient, comprehensive, critical, and tirelessly motivating guidance has significantly contributed to the preparation and realisation of this analysis. I would also like to thank my second reader Mieke Lopes Cardozo for her critical objections during the defence. Special thanks go to the people who agreed to give me an interview upon their fields of work, impressions on the ground, and difficulties in implementing concepts. Furthermore, I would like to thank all the people in Federal information offices as well as the foundation offices and library staff in Amsterdam, Oldenburg, Hanover, and Bonn who, under the difficult circumstances of the global pandemic, nevertheless willingly provided me with works for this thesis (even via interlibrary loan). Furthermore, I would like to express my gratitude to the staff of the International Development Programme of the Universiteit van Amsterdam, namely Eva van der Sleen and Courtney Vegelin, for their outstanding support and tireless willingness to help. Finally, I would like to thank my family and friends who have supported me at every stage of this work and have added value to it through their feedback. ii Table of Contents Abstract .................................................................................................................................................... i Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................................. ii List of Figures ............................................................................................................................................ v List of Acronyms and Abbreviations......................................................................................................... vi 1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1. Relevance ................................................................................................................................. 2 1.2. Thesis Setup ............................................................................................................................. 3 2. Towards Polity Export – A Theoretical Frame .................................................................................. 3 2.1. Political Objects in The Academic Discourse ............................................................................ 4 2.1.1. Historical and Political Reasons ........................................................................................ 6 2.1.2. Theoretical and Ideological Influences............................................................................. 8 2.1.3. Modes of Implementation ............................................................................................. 10 2.2. Polity Export as Conceptual Scheme ...................................................................................... 11 3. Research Context ........................................................................................................................... 14 4. Methodological Procedure ............................................................................................................ 16 4.1. Critical Realism ....................................................................................................................... 16 4.2. Discourse Archaeology ........................................................................................................... 16 4.3. Units of Analysis ..................................................................................................................... 18 4.4. Units of Observation and Sampling ........................................................................................ 18 4.5. Data Collection Methods ....................................................................................................... 19 4.6. Data Analysis .......................................................................................................................... 19 4.7. Ethical Considerations ........................................................................................................... 20 4.8. Reflection on the Quality and Limitation of the Research ..................................................... 21 5. Archaeology of Identities ............................................................................................................... 22 5.1. German Values....................................................................................................................... 23 5.2. Reflection and Counter Constructions within the Discourse ................................................. 24 5.3. Superiority and Model ........................................................................................................... 26 5.4. Construction of the SSA Region as Bad Governance .............................................................. 28 5.5. Interim Summary ................................................................................................................... 30 6. Archaeology of Direct Political Objects .......................................................................................... 31 6.1. Democracy ............................................................................................................................. 31 6.2. Democratic Concepts ............................................................................................................. 34 6.3. Good Governance .................................................................................................................. 37 6.4. The Rule of Law ...................................................................................................................... 41 6.5. Administration and Management .......................................................................................... 41 6.6. Interim Summary ................................................................................................................... 43 7. Archaeology of Implicit Political Objects ........................................................................................ 45 7.1. Framework Conditions ........................................................................................................... 46 7.2. Liberal Statehood ..................................................................................................................