IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pal/eurjdr/v29y2017i2d10.1057_ejdr.2016.8.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

In the Name of Sustainability: Contradictory Effects of NGO-Driven Development in Malawi

Author

Listed:
  • Louise Mubanda Rasmussen

    (Roskilde University)

Abstract

It is a core principle in non-governmental organisation (NGO)-driven development that interventions must be ‘sustainable’. Individuals and communities are to be ‘empowered’ to take responsibility for their own development in ways that will eventually make donor funding redundant. On the basis of ethnographic fieldwork with NGOs supporting ‘orphans and vulnerable children’ in Malawi, this article explores the practices, social relations and contradictory effects that the vision of sustainability engenders. The article illustrates how the commitment to sustainability paradoxically produces practices that can only be sustained through continuous flows of donor funding. It argues that the persistence of sustainability as an organising principle is connected both to its self-confirming logic and to the ways in which practices of ‘sustainability’ shape the subjectivities of local brokers and come to constitute a central avenue for pursuing personal projects of development.

Suggested Citation

  • Louise Mubanda Rasmussen, 2017. "In the Name of Sustainability: Contradictory Effects of NGO-Driven Development in Malawi," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 29(2), pages 312-327, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:pal:eurjdr:v:29:y:2017:i:2:d:10.1057_ejdr.2016.8
    DOI: 10.1057/ejdr.2016.8
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1057/ejdr.2016.8
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1057/ejdr.2016.8?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stephen Devereux & J Allister McGregor, 2014. "Transforming Social Protection: Human Wellbeing and Social Justice," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 26(3), pages 296-310, July.
    2. Krause, Monika, 2014. "The Good Project," University of Chicago Press Economics Books, University of Chicago Press, number 9780226131221, December.
    3. Morfit, N. Simon, 2011. ""AIDS is Money": How Donor Preferences Reconfigure Local Realities," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 64-76, January.
    4. Ghazala Mansuri, 2004. "Community-Based and -Driven Development: A Critical Review," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 19(1), pages 1-39.
    5. Andrea Rigon, 2014. "Building Local Governance: Participation and Elite Capture in Slum-upgrading in Kenya," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 45(2), pages 257-283, March.
    6. Clive Gabay, 2014. "Two 'transitions': the political economy of Joyce Banda's rise to power and the related role of civil society organisations in Malawi," Review of African Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(141), pages 374-388, September.
    7. Abebe, Tatek & Aase, Asbjorn, 2007. "Children, AIDS and the politics of orphan care in Ethiopia: The extended family revisited," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 64(10), pages 2058-2069, May.
    8. Mette F Olwig, 2013. "Beyond Translation: Reconceptualizing the Role of Local Practitioners and the Development ‘Interface’," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 25(3), pages 428-444, July.
    9. Rebecca Marsland, 2006. "Community Participation the Tanzanian Way: Conceptual Contiguity or Power Struggle?," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(1), pages 65-79.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. María-Carmen Ricoy & Joseba Delgado-Parada & María del Pino Díaz-Pereira & Sálvora Feliz, 2024. "Creative Environments for Sustainability in Organizations Promoting the Education of Vulnerable Groups," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(15), pages 1-15, August.
    2. Sampson Addo Yeboah, 2022. "Solving Local Problems or Looking Good: An Ethnography of the Field Practices of Foreign Sponsored NGOs in Rural African Communities," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 34(3), pages 1645-1661, June.
    3. Ikenna Elias Asogwa & Maria Estela Varua & Peter Humphreys & Rina Datt, 2021. "Understanding Sustainability Reporting in Non-Governmental Organisations: A Systematic Review of Reporting Practices, Drivers, Barriers and Paths for Future Research," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-26, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Beck, Erin, 2016. "Repopulating Development: An Agent-Based Approach to Studying Development Interventions," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 19-32.
    2. Swidler, Ann & Watkins, Susan Cotts, 2009. ""Teach a Man to Fish": The Sustainability Doctrine and Its Social Consequences," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(7), pages 1182-1196, July.
    3. Aidan Craney, 2020. "Local Participation or Elite Capture in Sheep’s Clothing? A Conundrum of Locally Led Development," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(4), pages 191-200.
    4. Banal-Estañol, Albert & Calzada, Joan & Jordana, Jacint, 2017. "How to achieve full electrification: Lessons from Latin America," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 55-69.
    5. Helen M. Haugh & Alka Talwar, 2016. "Linking Social Entrepreneurship and Social Change: The Mediating Role of Empowerment," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 133(4), pages 643-658, February.
    6. Kate Pruce, 2023. "The Politics of Who Gets What and Why: Learning from the Targeting of Social Cash Transfers in Zambia," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 35(4), pages 820-839, August.
    7. Araujo, M. Caridad & Ferreira, Francisco H.G. & Lanjouw, Peter & Özler, Berk, 2008. "Local inequality and project choice: Theory and evidence from Ecuador," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(5-6), pages 1022-1046, June.
    8. He, Lulu, 2019. "Identifying local needs for post-disaster recovery in Nepal," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 52-62.
    9. Deininger, Klaus W. & Liu, Yanyan, 2008. "Economic and Social Impacts of Self-Help Groups in India," 2008 Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2008, Orlando, Florida 6482, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    10. Azam Chaudhry & Kate Vyborny, 2013. "Patronage in Rural Punjab: Evidence from a New Household Survey Dataset," Lahore Journal of Economics, Department of Economics, The Lahore School of Economics, vol. 18(Special E), pages 183-209, September.
    11. Arjan de Haan & Ward Warmerdam, 2012. "The politics of aid revisited: a review of evidence on state capacity and elite commitment," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series esid-007-12, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    12. Zhan, Shaohua, 2015. "From Privatization to Deindustrialization: Implications of Chinese Rural Industry and the Ownership Debate Revisited," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 108-122.
    13. Stoeffler, Quentin & Mills, Bradford & del Ninno, Carlo, 2016. "Reaching the Poor: Cash Transfer Program Targeting in Cameroon," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 244-263.
    14. Saguin, Kidjie, 2018. "Why the poor do not benefit from community-driven development: Lessons from participatory budgeting," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 220-232.
    15. Catherine Ragasa & Cristina Alvarez-Mingote & Paul McNamara, 2024. "Bottom-Up Approaches and Decentralized Extension Structures for Improving Access to and Quality of Extension Services and Technology Adoption: Multi-level Analysis from Malawi," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 36(5), pages 1093-1146, October.
    16. repec:asi:ajosrd:2012:p:39-45 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Grillos, Tara, 2017. "Participatory Budgeting and the Poor: Tracing Bias in a Multi-Staged Process in Solo, Indonesia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 343-358.
    18. Deribe Assefa Aga & N. Noorderhaven & B. Vallejo, 2018. "Project beneficiary participation and behavioural intentions promoting project sustainability: The mediating role of psychological ownership," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 36(5), pages 527-546, September.
    19. King, Elisabeth & Samii, Cyrus, 2014. "Fast-Track Institution Building in Conflict-Affected Countries? Insights from Recent Field Experiments," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 740-754.
    20. Sam Hamer & Jeremy Seekings, 2017. "Social protection, electoral competition, and political branding in Malawi," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2017-99, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    21. Lidija Petrić & Smiljana Pivčević, 2016. "Community based tourism development - insights from Split, Croatia," Tourism and Hospitality Industry 22, University of Rijeka, Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pal:eurjdr:v:29:y:2017:i:2:d:10.1057_ejdr.2016.8. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.palgrave-journals.com/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.