Colonial and PostColonial Development
Empire & Aftermath
March 2016
Introduction
 Economic development - a term used frequently in
20th century by economists, policymakers,
intellectuals. Concept has a longer history,
connected to ideas about modernisation,
industrialisation, westernisation.
 ‘Development’ usually refers to policy interventions
and aid projects that focus on alleviating poverty
and improving living conditions in the global South
 This lecture provides a historical overview of
international development, from the late colonial era
to the present day.
 Development never a straightforward benevolent
act, but a historically contingent and
politically/ideologically driven project
Development Aid
Development Aid
(development assistance, technical assistance, international aid, overseas aid,
official development assistance (ODA), foreign aid)
 Financial aid given by governments and other agencies to support the
economic, environmental, social, and political development of developing
countries
 Distinguished from humanitarian aid by focusing on alleviating poverty in the
long-term
 Bilateral (70%) and Multilateral (30%)
 80-85% of global development aid comes from governments as official
development assistance (ODA). $135 billion total ODA in 2014
 Remaining 15-20% comes from private sources: non-governmental organisations
(NGOs), foundations, remittances, etc.
Total aid spending by OECD countries, 2014 (Millions of US dollars)
35000
30000
25000
20000
15000
10000
5000
0
Total aid spending by OECD countries, 2014 (Millions of US dollars)
Total aid spending by OECD countries, 2014 (% of gross national
income)
1.2
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
Total aid spending by OECD countries, 2014 (% of gross national income)
Global Poverty
 In 2010, were an estimated 1.2 billion people living
under the extreme poverty line ($1.25/day), 2.3
billion people under the poverty line ($2/day)
 800 million people go hungry every night
 19,000 children die each day from preventable
health problems
 More than 58 million primary-age children do not
attend school
 Every day, billions experience extreme forms of
deprivation
 Global poverty concentrated in South Asia and
sub-Saharan Africa
Foreign aid received in millions of US dollars (2013)
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
Foreign aid received in millions of US dollars (2013)
Development Aid
 Aid projects
 Budget support (payments to recipient government's general or sectoral budget)
 Technical assistance (expertise)
 Debt relief
 Climate change
 At different times, different forms of aid have been have been judged most conducive to
successful development. Budget support currently growing in importance
 International community subscribes to poverty reduction as the overarching purpose of
aid. In practice, political and security considerations have always shaped aid allocations
History of Development
 Late colonial era
 Post-1945: Truman’s Point IV
 1960s: The Development Decade
 1970s: Reorientation
 1980s: The ‘Lost Decade’
 1990s: Washington Consensus
 2000s: Millennium Development Goals
Colonial Origins
 Ideas about ‘improvement’ of colonial territories and
people have long history in European imperialism, and in
Western thought as a whole (Enlightenment, modernity)
 Late 19th century ‘new imperialism’: more aggressive
colonial policies of Britain, Belgium, France, Germany,
Netherlands. More importance attached to science and
technology, new possibilities of state planning, more
systematic development of colonies
 Development a response to problems and disorder
generated by late colonial rule (Great Depression, fears of
environmental and population crisis). Helped reinvigorate
imperial mission
 Britain’s Colonial Development Act (1929), Colonial
Development and Welfare Act (1940) – ushered in era of
state-led, large-scale development projects
 Late colonial development largely failed... but left important
legacies
Colonial Origins: The Kariba Dam
 Kariba Dam: hydroelectric dam in the
Kariba Gorge of the Zambezi river basin
between Zambia and Zimbabwe
 Built by Federation of Rhodesia and
Nyasaland in 1950s. Huge project to dam
the Zambezi and provide hydroelectric
power to surrounding region
 40% of colonial state's GNP to complete,
required submergence of 57,000 local
homes
 Combined many key elements of late
colonial development ideology:
grand scale, new technology, desire for
industrialisation, modern aesthetics and
materials, technological fix to perceived
population crisis, sacrifice of indigenous
lands/ways of life, reaffirm white
European rule
Post-1945: Truman’s Point IV
 Marshall Plan, 1948: Reconstruction of Europe
 President Truman's 1949 Inaugural Address, Point IV:
“we must embark on a bold new program for making
the benefits of our scientific advances and industrial
progress available for the improvement and growth
of underdeveloped areas”
 ‘Underdevelopment’ a new worldview.
‘Developed/underdeveloped’ distinction more
attuned to post-war world than ‘coloniser/colonised’
 Economic growth equated with successful
development. Industrialisation the engine of growth,
measured in gross domestic product (GDP)
 Development aid already linked to security
objectives of the United States: weapon to address
the threat of communism
1960s: The UN Development Decade
 The UN ‘Development Decade’
 Modernisation theory and Walt Rostow's 5 stages of
growth
(traditional society; preconditions for take-off; takeoff; drive to maturity, age of high mass consumption)
 Impressive growth rates, dramatic improvements in
life expectancy, treatment of disease, education,
health, infant mortality
 Green Revolution
huge increases in global agricultural production: HYV
cereal grains, irrigation, modernisation, hybridized
seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, etc.
 Many disappointments: hunger, malnutrition,
unemployment, inequality, living standards
1970s: Reorientation
 OPEC oil ‘shock’, Oct 1973 – Mar 1974
 New International Economic Order,
1974 – the ‘revolt of the third world’?
 Growing dissatisfaction with orthodox
development model
 Calls for re-examination and reorientation: new focus on poverty
reduction, grassroots projects, ‘basic
needs’
1980s: The ‘Lost Decade’
Debt crisis
 Causes: sharp rise in oil prices; big decline in foreign demand for exports;
decreasing primary product prices; rising international interest rates.
Commercial banks flushed with OPEC deposits, eager to recycle as loans to
third world
 Solutions: devised by creditor countries, banks, global financial institutions. In
return for debt rescheduling/cancellation, indebted countries had to pursue set
of policies under IMF supervision (structural adjustment)
 Reduce public spending; increase revenue; currency devaluation; removal of
price controls
1980s: The ‘Lost Decade’
Neoliberalism
 Part of broader shift to neoliberal ideology and
governance: objectives of poverty
reduction/growth best served by relying on
market forces and private enterprise. Restrict the
role of the state.
 The ‘lost decade’ - stagnation, decreasing
output, unemployment, falling wages, reduced
public spending on social services, aggravation
of poverty, growing inequality
 Efforts in many donor countries to privatise aid,
outsourced to NGOs
The Rise of Development NGOs
 Non-governmental organisations (NGOs)
non-profit, non-state, non-violent, organised on
local/national/international level to address
issues in support of public good
 Development NGOs championed as having
‘comparative advantage’ from 1970s onwards efficient, experts, less bureaucratic, more adept
at reaching poorest communities
 ‘Pro-NGO norm’ in development arena from
1980s - NGOs promoted as more efficient and
cost-effective service providers, part of shift to
neoliberalism
 Increasing amounts of official aid channelled
through NGOs: now central actors in aid system
Cumulated income (£m) of British Red Cross, Christian Aid, Oxfam
and Save the Children, 1945-2009 (adjusted for inflation, 2009)
1990s: The Washington Consensus
 'Shock therapy' in former Soviet bloc nations
after the Cold War ends
 Washington Consensus
cut public spending; currency devaluation;
liberalisation of trade and foreign
investment; privatisation; deregulation
 Neoliberal model challenged but not
overturned, renewed focus on poverty
reduction as primary goal of development
aid in broad sense (health, education,
employment, access to public services) by
end of 1990s
21st Century: UN Millennium
Development Goals
 UN Millennium Development Goals
8 international development goals adopted by the
UN in 2000. All member states committed to achieve
by 2015:
1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
2: Achieve universal primary education
3: Promote gender equality and empower women
4: Reduce child mortality
5: Improve maternal health
6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, other diseases
7: Ensure environmental sustainability
8: Develop a global partnership for development
 Uneven progress: success in some areas more than
others, varying results across regions
 Post-2001 War on Terror: Development aid still linked
to foreign policy and security objectives.
21st Century: Post-2015
 UN Millennium Development Goals replaced by UN Sustainable
Development Goals - adopted September 2015. 17 Sustainable
Development Goals, to be achieved by 2030
 More complex and inclusive process than MDGs. Recognise that eliminating
poverty will also require reducing inequality, combatting climate change,
strengthening labour rights, etc.
 Also contradictory - old model of ever-increasing industrial growth to fuel
development
Critiques & Alternative Visions
 Soviet communist model of development
central planning, one-party state, nationalisation, rapid
industrialisation. Centrally planned economies
considered an attractive model by many in the Global
South
 Dependency theory
Rejection of modernisation theory, popular in the 1970s,
argues resources flow from a ‘periphery’ of poor and
underdeveloped states to a ‘core’ of wealthy states
(neo-colonialism)
 Alternative models: grassroots, small-scale, appropriate
technology
 Post-Development theory
Argues the entire concept and practice of
development is Eurocentric, unsustainable, ineffective,
unjust, and a reflection of Western hegemony.
Conclusion: Questions to Consider
 Imperial legacies and continuities
 The Development ‘Industry’
 Rise of non-Western ‘emerging donors’
 Does aid actually work?
“Foreign aid is... a phenomenal investment. Foreign
aid doesn't just save lives; it also lays the groundwork
for lasting, long-term economic progress”
(Bill Gates, 2014)
“Giving more aid than we currently give – at least if it
were given as it is given now – would make things
worse, not better”
(Angus Deaton, 2013)
Development in Reverse
 Statistics show poverty rates declining due to
Millennium Development Goals: successful
aid, or false accounting?
 Rich nations provide over $100 billion annually
in aid. But much more flows in other direction:
debt servicing, capital flight, tax avoidance,
cheap labour, patent fees, etc. Poor countries
actually ‘developing’ rich countries?
 Jason Hickel: We will never successfully
eradicate global poverty until we dismantle
the ‘global wealth extraction system’, prevent
capital flight and tax avoidance, cancel
debt, halt land grabs, democratise global
economic institutions, and renegotiate all
‘free trade’ deals.
Convincing, or utopian?