The Paternalism of Partnership: A Postcolonial Reading of Identity in Development Aid

The development industry has been criticized recently from very diverse quarters. This book is a nuanced and original investigation of Northern donor agency personnel as they deliver aid in Tanzania. The author explores in particular how donor identities are manifested in the practices of development aid, and how calls for equal partnership between North and South are often very different in practice. She demonstrates the conflicts and tensions in the development aid process. These reflect both the longstanding critique of the Eurocentric nature of development, and discourse that still assumes images of the superior, initiating, efficient ‘donor’ as opposed to the inadequate, passive, unreliable ‘partner’ or recipient.

This book will be useful to students seeking an introduction to postcolonial studies and the ways in which it can throw light on contemporary social realities, and to scholars interested in the ethnographic realities of aid delivery.