Deconstructing Development Discourse Buzzwords and Fuzzwords Praise for this book ‘This book has emerged from a process that challenged its authors to think “out of the box” of accepted development concepts; to question their continued validity, to speak truth to power. A sparkling addition to the student’s tool-kit, and a sobering call for renewed thinking to long-time development thinkers and practitioners.’ Gita Sen, Professor, Centre for Public Policy, Indian Institute of Management ‘An important initiative from two seasoned, refl ective development practitioner scholars. The chapters in this book will prove a real help in teaching Masters stu- dents, as well as stimulating me personally towards new research themes. Are you tired of looking in Google Scholar for academic journal articles that present serious issues in a way that engages students? Then this text provides what you are look- ing for.’ Helen Hintjens, Senior Lecturer in Development and Social Justice, International Institute of Social Studies, The Hague ‘Timely and emancipatory and long overdue, this is a dissection of how vocabularies trap us ... These terminologies are the underbelly of the modernisation project which has shackled and burned holes into the aspirations and potential of countries of the South. A must-read for those who are working for justice in the public domain.’ Devaki Jain, Member South commission, founder member DAWN ‘With a lightness of touch that belies a deadly seriousness of intent, this book is both a useful guide and a powerful antidote to the dangerous oversimplifi cations of twenty-fi rst century development policy. It is essential reading for researchers, students and development professionals’ David Lewis, Professor of Social Policy and Development, London School of Economics & Political Science ‘An exciting, fun and deeply challenging book for all engaged in development. This timely and highly readable edited volume pushes us to peel back the lan- guage of development and grapple with issues that really do matter for global social justice. Congratulations to the editors for taking up where Wolfgang Sach’s Development Dictionary left off!’ Wendy Harcourt, Editor of Development, Society for International Development ‘As development practice advances on the ground, development discourse becomes more complex. This collection fi lls the important gap by demystifying the jargon and concepts for practitioners and students of development.’ Rajesh Tandon, President, PRIA, India ‘Since its invention post-Second World War, the development industry has culti- vated a vast ideological vocabulary to confuse, conceal and mystify the reconstruc- tion by imperial governments of the former colonies to allow super-exploitation by the international oligopolies. Development intellectuals have readily colluded and contributed to this obscurantism. This book goes a long way towards demonstrating the emptiness of development jargon, unveiling the naked emperor.’ Firoze Manji, Editor in Chief, Pambazuka News ‘This critical dictionary of development discourse will be enormously useful for those of us who believe that effective communication is essential for posi- tive social change.’ Ricardo Wilson-Grau, independent evaluator, Brazil Deconstructing Development Discourse Buzzwords and Fuzzwords Edited by Andrea Cornwall and Deborah Eade Published by Practical Action Publishing in association with Oxfam GB Practical Action Publishing Ltd Schumacher Centre for Technology and Development Bourton on Dunsmore, Rugby, Warwickshire, CV23 9QZ, UK www.practicalactionpublishing.org ISBN 978 1 85339 706 6 © Oxfam GB, 2010 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without the written permission of the publishers. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. The contributors have asserted their rights under the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identifi ed as authors of their respective contributions. This volume is based on Development in Practice Volume 17, Numbers 4 & 5, published by Routledge, Taylor & Francis Limited. The views expressed in this volume are those of the individual contributors and not necessarily those of the editors or publisher. For more information about the journal, visit: www.developmentinpractice.org. Since 1974, Practical Action Publishing (formerly Intermediate Technology Publications and ITDG Publishing) has published and disseminated books and information in support of international development work throughout the world. Practical Action Publishing Ltd (Company Reg. No. 1159018) is the wholly owned publishing company of Practical Action. Practical Action Publishing trades only in support of its parent charity objectives and any profi ts are covenanted back to Practical Action (Charity Reg. No. 247257, Group VAT Registration No. 880 9924 76). Oxfam is a registered charity in England and Wales (no 202918) and Scotland (SCO 039042). Oxfam GB is a member of Oxfam International. Oxfam GB, Oxfam House, John Smith Drive, Oxford, OX4 2JY, UK www.oxfam.org.uk Indexed by Andrea Palmer Typeset by S.J.I. Services Printed by Information Press Printed on FSC 100% post-consumer waste recycled paper. Contents Preface vii Deborah Eade 1. Introductory overview – buzzwords and fuzzwords: deconstructing development discourse 1 Andrea Cornwall 2. Development as a buzzword 19 Gilbert Rist 3. Words count: taking a count of the changing language of British aid 29 Naomi Alfi ni and Robert Chambers 4. Poverty reduction 45 John Toye 5. Social protection 53 Guy Standing 6. Globalisation 69 Shalmali Guttal 7. The F-word and the S-word – too much of one and not enough of the other 81 Cassandra Balchin 8. Participation: the ascendancy of a buzzword in the neo-liberal era 89 Pablo Alejandro Leal 9. Citizenship: a perverse confl uence 101 Evelina Dagnino 10. Taking the power out of empowerment – an experiential account 111 Srilatha Batliwala 11. Social capital 123 Ben Fine 12. Refl ections on relationships: the nature of partnership according to fi ve NGOs in southern Mexico 135 Miguel Pickard 13. Talking of gender: words and meanings in development organisations 143 Ines Smyth vi DECONSTRUCTING DEVELOPMENT DISCOURSE 14. Sustainability 153 Ian Scoones 15. From the right to development to the rights-based approach: how ‘human rights’ entered development 163 Peter Uvin 16. Civil society 175 Neera Chandhoke 17. Public advocacy and people-centred advocacy: mobilising for social change 185 John Samuel 18. NGOs: between buzzwords and social movements 193 Islah Jad 19. Capacity building: who builds whose capacity? 203 Deborah Eade 20. Harmonisation: how is the orchestra conducted? 215 Rosalind Eyben 21. ‘Country ownership’: a term whose time has gone 223 Willem H. Buiter 22. Best of practices? 231 Warren Feek 23. Peacebuilding does not build peace 235 Tobias Denskus 24. The uncertain relationship between transparency and accountability 245 Jonathan Fox 25. Corruption 257 Elizabeth Harrison 26. ‘Good governance’: the itinerary of an idea 265 Thandika Mkandawire 27. The discordant voices of security 269 Robin Luckham 28. Fragile states 281 Eghosa E. Osaghae 29. ‘Knowledge management’: a case study of the World Bank’s Research Department 293 Robin Broad Coda 305 Deborah Eade Index 307 Preface Deborah Eade ‘When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean, neither more nor less.’ ‘The question is,’ said Alice, ‘whether you can make words mean so many different things.’ ‘The question is,’ said Humpty Dumpty, ‘which is to be master – that’s all.’ (Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There, 1871) Winnie-the-Pooh sat down at the foot of the tree, put his head between his paws, and began to think. First of all he said to himself: ‘That buzzing noise means something. You don’t get a buzzing noise like that, just buzzing and buzzing, without its meaning something.’ (A. A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh, 1926) The genesis of the special issue of Development in Practice on which this book is based was the 2004 UNRISD conference ‘Social Knowledge and International Policy Making’, which addressed the role of ideas in shaping policy (Utting 2006). In writing up the offi cial conference report (UNRISD 2004), I was pow- erfully reminded how deeply the concepts and language of international de- velopment are defi ned by the cultural mindsets of donor agencies, be they bilateral or multilateral (and hence nominally pluri-cultural). The intellec- tual contribution and cultures of aid-receiving countries, even those where English is the medium of higher education, are, as Adebayo Olukoshi points out, consigned at best to the textboxes of infl uential reports published by the World Bank and other UN specialised agencies; on average only two per cent of the citations in such reports even include any reference to African research. In this way, scholars in the South are enlisted to provide case studies to suit the ‘theoretical frameworks and analysis [for the formulation of policy proposals by] institutions in the North’ (UNRISD 2004:11). Where English is not the prime language of scholarship, let alone the language in which most people communicate, the exclusion is greater still. For instance, Mike Powell reports fi nding ‘bilingual, regionally oriented devel opment