Development Delusions and Contradictions : An Anatomy of the Foreign Aid Industry

Part I Inside the Donor World.- 1. Background: A Sketch of the Development Industry.- 2. The Imperative to Spend.- 3. Product Development.- 4. Control, Compliance, and More Control.- 5. Procurement.- 6. Numbers, Indicators, and Technical Objectivity.- 7. Chronic Ills of the Industry.- 8. Acts of Congregation.- 9. Texts and Documentation.- 10. Herd Instinct.- 11. Plus Ça Change.- 12. Responses to Covid-19.- Part II: When the West Meets the Rest.- 13. Background: Governments in the Rest.- 14. Donor Overload.- 15. Partnerships?.- 16. Country Ownership.- 17. Pay Scales.- 18. The Rest Strikes Back.- 19. Blind Support for the Private Sector.- 20. Informality.- Part III: Conclusions.- 21. Summing Up.- 22. Peering into the Future.