Donor’s double talk undermines African agency: Comparative study of civic agency in aid dependent countries. The case of Burkina Faso and Togo

Kohnert, Dirk (2015): Donor’s double talk undermines African agency: Comparative study of civic agency in aid dependent countries. The case of Burkina Faso and Togo.

Abstract

Despite a long-standing controversy about aid-effectiveness in general and the impact of aid-dependency on governance in particular, little is known on the effect of donors policies on civic agency for democratization in aid dependent autocratic regimes. In this study it is argued that the long-term effects of double-talk of donors, who openly promote democracy and freedom but covertly follow overriding hidden interest, are a neglected source of failure of civic protest and democratic revolutions in autocratic regimes. The differing outcome of ‘democratic revolutions’ in Togo and Burkina Faso – both ‘aid darlings’ for decades - serves to substantiate this thesis. A systematic and holistic consideration is necessary for an unbiased evaluation of the hidden adverse impact of aid on collective action at the grass-roots. Therefore, a rethinking of temporal and disciplinary ‘fault lines’ in development politics as well as in development studies is essential.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Development cooperation, democratization, civic agency, autocratic regimes, Burkina Faso, Togo, West Africa, ODA, aid dependency,
• Subjects: F - International Economics > F3 - International Finance > F35 - Foreign Aid; F - International Economics > F5 - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy > F54 - Colonialism ; Imperialism ; Postcolonialism; F - International Economics > F6 - Economic Impacts of Globalization > F68 - Policy; N - Economic History > N4 - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation > N47 - Africa ; Oceania; N - Economic History > N9 - Regional and Urban History > N97 - Africa ; Oceania; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O2 - Development Planning and Policy > O21 - Planning Models ; Planning Policy; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O3 - Innovation ; Research and Development ; Technological Change ; Intellectual Property Rights > O35 - Social Innovation; Z - Other Special Topics > Z1 - Cultural Economics ; Economic Sociology ; Economic Anthropology; Z - Other Special Topics > Z1 - Cultural Economics ; Economic Sociology ; Economic Anthropology > Z13 - Economic Sociology ; Economic Anthropology ; Social and Economic Stratification

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