David Scott (Dis)assembling Development Organizing Swedish Development Aid through Projectification (Dis)assembling Development Organizing Swedish Development Aid through Projectification David Scott Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Political Science DOCTORAL THESIS | Karlstad University Studies | 2021:2 (Dis)assembling Development Organizing Swedish Development Aid through Projectification David Scott DOCTORAL THESIS | Karlstad University Studies | 2021:2 (Dis)assembling Development - Organizing Swedish Development Aid through Projectification David Scott DOCTORAL THESIS Karlstad University Studies | 2021:2 urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-81698 ISSN 1403-8099 ISBN 978-91-7867-182-3 (print) ISBN 978-91-7867-183-0 (pdf) © The author Distribution: Karlstad University Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Department of Political, Historical, Religious and Cultural Studies SE-651 88 Karlstad, Sweden +46 54 700 10 00 Print: Universitetstryckeriet, Karlstad 2021 WWW.KAU.SE “There is no social order. Rather, there are endless attempts at ordering”. (Law 1994:101) “Today, we do not deem ourselves subjugated subjects, but rather projects: always refashioning and reinventing ourselves”. (Han 2017:1) “I despise the kind of book which tells you how to live, how to make yourself happy. Philosophers have no good news for you at this level. I believe the first duty of philosophy is making you understand what deep shit you are in!” (Slavoj Žižek) Table of contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................................... 6 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................ 9 THE PROJECT AND ITS EMBEDDEDNESS IN CONTEMPORARY GOVERNING ARRANGEMENTS ......11 HOW TO DEAL WITH A PATCHWORK - APPROACHING THE PROJECT AS AN ASSEMBLAGE ..........13 STUDYING THE PROJECT ASSEMBLAGE IN SWEDISH DEVELOPMENT AID .................................15 AIM AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS ..........................................................................................20 THESIS OUTLINE .................................................................................................................21 2 ASSEMBLING INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN PROJECTIFIED TIMES – A CONTEXTUALIZATION .......................................................................................................23 INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AS A MANAGERIAL PRACTICE ................................................23 PUBLIC SECTOR TRANSFORMATION IN TIMES OF MARKETIZATION AND MANAGERIALIZATION .....32 New Public Management .............................................................................................32 Consultants – Mobile carriers of market and management thinking ..............................38 Projectification – An overview ......................................................................................41 Projectification as a managerial practice in international development .........................46 ASSEMBLAGE STUDIES .......................................................................................................50 Assemblage and its philosophical underpinnings .........................................................51 Assemblage thinking mobilized – Theoretical and empirical divergences .....................57 Assemblage as an analytical tactic and space of inquiry ............................................. 58 Mobilizing assemblage to explore processes of composition ...................................... 60 Concluding remarks .................................................................................................... 66 ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK – MOBILIZING CONCEPTS FOR EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS .......................68 Exploring the construction of the project through processes of translation ...................69 Setting the analysis in motion – An analytical strategy .............................................. 72 3 STUDYING THE PROJECT IN PRACTICE - RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND MATERIAL ...........................................................................................................................76 INITIAL CONSIDERATIONS ON ASSEMBLAGE AND METHODOLOGY ............................................76 DEFINING A STUDY OBJECT – FOLLOWING THE PROJECT .......................................................78 THE POLITICS OF METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................81 THE CASE RATIONALE – THE PROJECT AS A PARADIGMATIC CASE ..........................................82 CONSTRUCTING THE ASSEMBLAGE ......................................................................................83 Access to the field ........................................................................................................91 Initial considerations on data generation ......................................................................94 Interviews .................................................................................................................... 95 Focus group interview ................................................................................................. 98 Observations ................................................................................................................ 99 Documents ................................................................................................................ 100 DATA ANALYSIS - DEPLOYING A RHIZOMATIC APPROACH ..................................................... 103 RESEARCH ETHICS ........................................................................................................... 108 A NOTE ON TRANSLATION ................................................................................................. 113 4 ASSEMBLING THE PROJECT IN SWEDISH DEVELOPMENT AID .............................. 114 ASSEMBLING APPLICATIONS – THE JOURNEY TOWARDS AN APPLICATION ............................. 114 Gaining access to funding .......................................................................................... 115 Assessing the suitability of funding ............................................................................. 117 Writing the application – translating technical guidelines and establishing the “tone” . 119 Translating guidelines and instructions – Engaging with the template .................... 119 Consolidating cooperation – Teamwork .................................................................... 125 Appearing attractive to the funder ............................................................................. 127 Mobilizing expertise for the use of mindsets and models ............................................ 133 Concluding summary – An application process without a center ................................ 135 ASSEMBLING APPRAISALS – THE JOURNEY TOWARDS (DIS)APPROVAL ................................. 137 Mobilizing criteria ....................................................................................................... 137 Mobilizing supporting artifacts – Using the handbook ................................................. 146 Mobilizing expertise.................................................................................................... 148 Concluding summary – An appraisal process without a center ................................... 154 ASSEMBLING IMPLEMENTATION AND REPORTING ................................................................ 155 Building the evidence base ........................................................................................ 155 Managing the project logic – Exploiting advantages and handling contradictions and pressures ................................................................................................................... 158 Managing administrative requirements – Producing the report ............................... 159 Stuck in the unpredictability and rigidity of the project logic .................................. 166 Maximizing success – Mobilizing support systems for project implementation ........... 173 Using platforms for knowledge exchange and experimentation .................................. 174 Self-organized platforms – Learning in a network setting ........................................ 174 Funder-organized platforms – Learning under experimental conditions ................. 178 Maximizing success through informal means ............................................................. 180 Concluding summary – An implementation and reporting process without a center ... 182 ASSEMBLING AUDITING ..................................................................................................... 183 Funder-organized audit .............................................................................................. 183 Externally-organized audit .......................................................................................... 186 Organizing evaluation in a context of outsourcing ................................................... 186 Conducting the evaluation – an interplay between conflict and alignment ............. 189 Concluding summary – An auditing process without a center ..................................... 195 CONCLUDING DISCUSSION – THE PROJECT AS A RESULT OF TRANSLATION ........................... 196 5 (DE)STABILIZING THE PROJECT ................................................................................. 198 PROCESSES OF STABILIZATION – TAMING COMPLEXITY, AMBIGUITY AND UNCERTAINTY ........