Overview

Why do aid agencies from wealthy donor countries with diverse domestic political and economic contexts arrive at very similar positions on a wide array of aid policies and priorities? This book suggests that this homogenization of policy represents the effects of common processes of globalization manifest in the aid sector. Drawing on both quantitative and qualitative analysis of policy adoption, the book argues that we need to examine macro-level globalizing influences at the same time as understanding the micro-level social processes at work within aid agencies, in order to adequately explain the so-called 'emerging global consensus' that constitutes the globalization of aid. The book explores how global influences on aid agencies in Canada, Sweden, and the United States are mediated through micro-level processes. Using a mixed-methods approach, the book combines cross-national statistical analysis at the global level with two comparative case studies which look at the adoption of common policy priorities in the fields of gender and security. The Globalization of Foreign Aid will be useful to researchers of foreign aid, development, international relations and globalization, as well as to the aid policy community.

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9781138569850

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This long-awaited book provides a compelling account of why foreign aid donors engage in herd behaviour and how the process plays out in specific cases. In it, Liam Swiss makes a very insightful and nuanced contribution to the literature on foreign aid and policy diffusion. -- Stephen Brown, School of Political Studies, University of Ottawa, Canada Based on sustained personal and professional experience, Liam Swiss provides a meticulous analysis of the many forces that produce convergence in international development policy, norms and priorities. Swiss manages the rare combination of compelling detail, clarity, and theoretical innovation. -- Emma Mawdsley, Reader in Human Geography, University of Cambridge, UK Combining mixed-methods research with his insights as a former international aid worker, Swiss offers a compelling explanation of how donors get stuck in inflexible approaches to development. This books gives us a glimpse into both the dark side of global consensus, and how to break free of it. -- Elizabeth Heger Boyle, Professor of Sociology, University of Minnesota, USA This book is an indispensable contribution to our understanding of how aid works. Swiss deftly explores the challenges faced by the development industry today and blazes new trails into the global politics of bilateral assistance. I know of no other comparative study of aid agencies that takes a sociological approach as sophisticated as this. -- Jeffrey T. Jackson, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Mississippi, USA, and author of The Globalizers: Development Workers in Action

Author Information

Liam Swiss is Associate Professor of Sociology at Memorial University of Newfoundland in St. John's, Canada.

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