IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/prodev/v24y2024i2p97-112.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Aid Unchained: Examining Development Project Management Practices at Aid Chain Interfaces

Author

Listed:
  • Lena Gutheil

    (Lena Gutheil is the corresponding author (lena.gutheil@idos-research.de) and is affiliated with German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS), Bonn, Germany.)

  • Dirk-Jan Koch

    (Dirk-Jan Koch is affiliated with Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.)

Abstract

By analysing a comparative case study investigating a development project implemented in Uganda and Vietnam, the article aims to understand how donor directives travel and translate into actual practices in aid chains. Making use of Norman Long’s concept of the interface, we focus on the interfaces between organizations to examine the negotiation of everyday project practices. Based on practice theory, our analysis unpacks how directives are filtered through the power relationships that shape practices at the various interfaces. We find that organizational relations between southern organizations are just as power-laden as north–south relations. Our analysis also shows that neither the management directives nor the freedoms that were granted to the participating organizations resulted in uniform practices and that practices did not have the same implications for organizations. Hence, the aid chain concept tends to simplify the complexities inherent in project systems comprising a multiplicity of vertical and horizontal organizational relations.

Suggested Citation

  • Lena Gutheil & Dirk-Jan Koch, 2024. "Aid Unchained: Examining Development Project Management Practices at Aid Chain Interfaces," Progress in Development Studies, , vol. 24(2), pages 97-112, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:prodev:v:24:y:2024:i:2:p:97-112
    DOI: 10.1177/14649934231205441
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/14649934231205441
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/14649934231205441?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Janine R. Wedel & Cris Shore & Gregory Feldman & Stacy Lathrop, 2005. "Toward an Anthropology of Public Policy," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 600(1), pages 30-51, July.
    2. Brendan S. Whitty, 2019. "Practising politics: Technical project templates and political practice in a DFID country office," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 37(S2), pages 293-309, July.
    3. Stephen Brown, 2020. "The Rise and Fall of the Aid Effectiveness Norm," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 32(4), pages 1230-1248, September.
    4. Andrews, Matt & Pritchett, Lant & Woolcock, Michael, 2017. "Building State Capability: Evidence, Analysis, Action," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198747482.
    5. Neil McCulloch & Laure‐Hélène Piron, 2019. "Thinking and Working Politically: Learning from practice. Overview to Special Issue," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 37(S1), pages 1-15, June.
    6. Niels Keijzer & David Black, 2020. "Special issue introduction Ownership in a post‐aid effectiveness era: Comparative perspectives," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 38(S1), pages 1-12, May.
    7. Katharina Michaelowa & Axel Borrmann, 2006. "Evaluation Bias and Incentive Structures in Bi‐ and Multilateral Aid Agencies," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 10(2), pages 313-329, May.
    8. Lena Gutheil & Dirk‐Jan Koch, 2023. "Civil society organizations and managerialism: On the depoliticization of the adaptive management agenda," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 41(1), January.
    9. Burger Ronelle & Owens Trudy & Prakash Aseem, 2018. "Global Non-Profit Chains and the Challenges of Development Aid Contracting," Nonprofit Policy Forum, De Gruyter, vol. 9(4), pages 1-12, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Lena Gutheil & Dirk‐Jan Koch, 2023. "Civil society organizations and managerialism: On the depoliticization of the adaptive management agenda," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 41(1), January.
    2. Roll, Michael, 2021. "Institutional change through development assistance: The comparative advantages of political and adaptive approaches," IDOS Discussion Papers 28/2021, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS).
    3. Kelly Gerard, 2023. "Doing aid chains differently: Evaluating the potential of Multi‐Stakeholder Partnerships," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 41(1), January.
    4. Alexia Lochmann, 2022. "Diagnosing Drivers of Spatial Exclusion: Places, People, and Policies in South Africa’s Former Homelands," Growth Lab Working Papers 199, Harvard's Growth Lab.
    5. Luciana Cingolani & Tim Hildebrandt, 2022. "Incentive Structures for the Adoption of Crowdsourcing in Public Policy: A Bureaucratic Politics Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-16, October.
    6. Chris Roche & John Cox & Mereani Rokotuibau & Peni Tawake & Yeshe Smith, 2020. "The Characteristics of Locally Led Development in the Pacific," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(4), pages 136-146.
    7. Alice Evans, 2019. "Incentivising Pro-Labour Reforms," CID Working Papers 349, Center for International Development at Harvard University.
    8. Shruti Rajagopalan & Alex Tabarrok, 2021. "Simple rules for the developing world," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 52(2), pages 341-362, December.
    9. Guo, Jingyuan & Deng, Kent, 2024. "Laying off old guards to rebuild state capacity: Deng Xiaoping’s bloodless coup d’etat in post-Mao China, 1980-2000," Economic History Working Papers 126083, London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Economic History.
    10. Hakiman, Kamran & Sheely, Ryan, 2023. "Unlocking the Potential of Participatory Planning: How Flexible and Adaptive Governance Interventions Can Work in Practice," OSF Preprints kucjs, Center for Open Science.
    11. Matt Andrews, 2022. "This is How to Think About and Achieve Public Policy Success," CID Working Papers 413, Center for International Development at Harvard University.
    12. Roy Valiant Salomo & Krisna Puji Rahmayanti, 2023. "Progress and Institutional Challenges on Local Governments Performance Accountability System Reform in Indonesia," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, October.
    13. Rafael Puyana & Daniel Payares & Indira Porto, 2021. "Efectividad del esquema de extensionistas tecnológicos : estudio base para el Pilar 2 del programa Fábricas de Productividad," Informes de Investigación 19277, Fedesarrollo.
    14. Lawson, Andrew & Harris, Jamelia, 2023. "Is the problem driven iterative adaptation approach (PDIA) a panacea for public financial management reform? Evidence from six African countries," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 31(C).
    15. Eduardo Levy Yeyati, 2019. "What Works for Active Labor Market Policies?," CID Working Papers 358, Center for International Development at Harvard University.
    16. Jan Orbie & Viktor Opsomer & Yentyl Williams & Sarah Delputte & Joren Verschaeve, 2021. "Shielded against risk? European donor co‐ordination in Palestine," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 39(5), pages 703-720, September.
    17. Matt Andrews & Tim McNaught & Salimah Samji, 2018. "Opening Adaptation Windows onto Public Financial Management Reform Gaps in Mozambique," CID Working Papers 341, Center for International Development at Harvard University.
    18. Elena Sondermann & Cornelia Ulbert, 2021. "Transformation through ‘Meaningful’ Partnership? SDG 17 as Metagovernance Norm and Its Global Health Implementation," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 9(1), pages 152-163.
    19. Chhibber, Ajay, 2021. "India's Interventionist State: Reduce Its Scope and Increase Its Capability," MPRA Paper 105711, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 01 Feb 2021.
    20. de Hoyos, Rafael & Djaker, Sharnic & Ganimian, Alejandro J. & Holland, Peter A., 2024. "The impact of combining performance-management tools and training with diagnostic feedback in public schools: Experimental evidence from Argentina," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).

    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:sae:prodev:v:24:y:2024:i:2:p:97-112. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.