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...

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Main Authors: Koch, Susanne, Weingart, Peter
Formato: Online
Idioma:inglés
Publicado: African Minds 2021
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Acceso en liña:1001045
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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.
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spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-388812025-02-12T18:05:50Z The Delusion of Knowledge Transfer Koch, Susanne Weingart, Peter policy Africa knowledge Tanzania South Africa HIV/AIDS World Bank thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JH Sociology and anthropology::JHB Sociology thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPP Public administration thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPS International relations 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. 2021-02-10T12:58:18Z 2018-12-12 12:09:23 2020-04-01T12:24:13Z 2016 book 1001045 OCN: 1076711751 http://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/28914 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/38881 eng open access image/jpeg image/jpeg image/jpeg image/jpeg image/jpeg n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/28914/1/AMT-Delusion-of-Knowledge-Transfer-WEB.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/28914/1/AMT-Delusion-of-Knowledge-Transfer-WEB.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/28914/1/AMT-Delusion-of-Knowledge-Transfer-WEB.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/28914/1/AMT-Delusion-of-Knowledge-Transfer-WEB.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/28914/1/AMT-Delusion-of-Knowledge-Transfer-WEB.pdf African Minds 36099d72-8b22-4bf5-ab27-c2090263b9c6 ScholarLed 396 open access
spellingShingle policy
Africa
knowledge
Tanzania
South Africa
HIV/AIDS
World Bank
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JH Sociology and anthropology::JHB Sociology
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPP Public administration
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPS International relations
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 policy
Africa
knowledge
Tanzania
South Africa
HIV/AIDS
World Bank
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JH Sociology and anthropology::JHB Sociology
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPP Public administration
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPS International relations
topic_facet policy
Africa
knowledge
Tanzania
South Africa
HIV/AIDS
World Bank
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JH Sociology and anthropology::JHB Sociology
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPP Public administration
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPS International relations
url 1001045
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