A Moral Economy? Social interpretations of money in Aidland

This article considers the implications of the varied social meanings and values practitioners give to aid and the logics they use to make sense of Aidland's inequitable economy. The author draws on experience as an aid practitioner, as well as on ethnographic research in Cambodia to propose that dominant economic approaches to assessing the value for money delivered by aid risk overlooking the values and varied interpretive logics aid workers use to make sense of aid allocations and exchanges. The article highlights dilemmas experienced by aid workers living and working in an inequitable socioeconomic system produced by aid flows that constantly have to be negotiated, reconciled or ignored. A case study from Cambodia shows how the interpretive lenses aid workers use to evaluate the use of aid money influence their relationships and practice in ways that have material effects. This suggests they deserve further study, likely to be aided by reference to ideas from economic sociology and anthropology.