The Delusion of Knowledge Transfer
With the rise of the ‘knowledge for development’ paradigm, expert advice has become a prime instrument of foreign aid. At the same time, it has been object of repeated criticism: the chronic failure of ‘technical assistance’ – a notion under which advice is commonly subsumed – has been documented in...
Sábháilte in:
| Príomhchruthaitheoirí: | , |
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| Formáid: | Online |
| Teanga: | Béarla |
| Foilsithe / Cruthaithe: |
African Minds
2026
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| Ábhair: | |
| Rochtain ar líne: | ONIX_20260415T184307_9781928331407_45 |
| Clibeanna: |
Níl clibeanna ann, Bí ar an gcéad duine le clib a chur leis an taifead seo!
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| _version_ | 1869517169682808832 |
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| author | Koch, Susanne Weingart, Peter |
| author_browse | Koch, Susanne Weingart, Peter |
| author_facet | Koch, Susanne Weingart, Peter |
| author_sort | Koch, Susanne |
| collection | Directory of Open Access Books |
| description | With the rise of the ‘knowledge for development’ paradigm, expert advice has become a prime instrument of foreign aid. At the same time, it has been object of repeated criticism: the chronic failure of ‘technical assistance’ – a notion under which advice is commonly subsumed – has been documented in a host of studies. Nonetheless, international organisations continue to send advisors, promising to increase the ‘effectiveness’ of expert support if their technocratic recommendations are taken up. This book reveals fundamental problems of expert advice in the context of aid that concern issues of power and legitimacy rather than merely flaws of implementation. Based on empirical evidence from South Africa and Tanzania, the authors show that aid-related advisory processes are inevitably obstructed by colliding interests, political pressures and hierarchical relations that impede knowledge transfer and mutual learning. As a result, recipient governments find themselves caught in a perpetual cycle of dependency, continuously advised by experts who convey the shifting paradigms and agendas of their respective donor governments. For young democracies, the persistent presence of external actors is hazardous: ultimately, it poses a threat to the legitimacy of their governments if their policy-making becomes more responsive to foreign demands than to the preferences and needs of their citizens. |
| format | Online |
| id | doab-20.500.12854ir-175797 |
| institution | Directory of Open Access Books |
| language | eng |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| publishDateRange | 2026 |
| publishDateSort | 2026 |
| publisher | African Minds |
| publisherStr | African Minds |
| record_format | ojs |
| spelling | doab-20.500.12854ir-1757972026-04-20T08:39:56Z The Delusion of Knowledge Transfer Koch, Susanne Weingart, Peter African studies thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBS Social groups, communities and identities::JBSL Ethnic studies::JBSL1 Ethnic groups and multicultural studies With the rise of the ‘knowledge for development’ paradigm, expert advice has become a prime instrument of foreign aid. At the same time, it has been object of repeated criticism: the chronic failure of ‘technical assistance’ – a notion under which advice is commonly subsumed – has been documented in a host of studies. Nonetheless, international organisations continue to send advisors, promising to increase the ‘effectiveness’ of expert support if their technocratic recommendations are taken up. This book reveals fundamental problems of expert advice in the context of aid that concern issues of power and legitimacy rather than merely flaws of implementation. Based on empirical evidence from South Africa and Tanzania, the authors show that aid-related advisory processes are inevitably obstructed by colliding interests, political pressures and hierarchical relations that impede knowledge transfer and mutual learning. As a result, recipient governments find themselves caught in a perpetual cycle of dependency, continuously advised by experts who convey the shifting paradigms and agendas of their respective donor governments. For young democracies, the persistent presence of external actors is hazardous: ultimately, it poses a threat to the legitimacy of their governments if their policy-making becomes more responsive to foreign demands than to the preferences and needs of their citizens. 2026-04-20T08:39:55Z 2026-04-20T08:39:55Z 2026-04-16T13:27:17Z 2016 book ONIX_20260415T184307_9781928331407_45 https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/112569 9781928331407 9781928331391 9781928331414 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/175797 eng open access image/jpeg Attribution 4.0 International https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/112569/1/9781928331407.pdf African Minds African Minds 10.47622/9781928331391 10.47622/9781928331391 36099d72-8b22-4bf5-ab27-c2090263b9c6 9781928331407 9781928331391 9781928331414 African Minds 384 Cape Town, South Africa open access |
| spellingShingle | African studies thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBS Social groups, communities and identities::JBSL Ethnic studies::JBSL1 Ethnic groups and multicultural studies Koch, Susanne Weingart, Peter The Delusion of Knowledge Transfer |
| title | The Delusion of Knowledge Transfer |
| title_full | The Delusion of Knowledge Transfer |
| title_fullStr | The Delusion of Knowledge Transfer |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Delusion of Knowledge Transfer |
| title_short | The Delusion of Knowledge Transfer |
| title_sort | delusion of knowledge transfer |
| topic | African studies thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBS Social groups, communities and identities::JBSL Ethnic studies::JBSL1 Ethnic groups and multicultural studies |
| topic_facet | African studies thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBS Social groups, communities and identities::JBSL Ethnic studies::JBSL1 Ethnic groups and multicultural studies |
| url | ONIX_20260415T184307_9781928331407_45 |
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