Thinking and working apolitically

Graham Teskey

Chapter 35 in The Elgar Companion to the World Bank, 2024, pp 417-428 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: The years 2007-2014 saw influential publications in the political economy of development. The governance practitioner community responded by proposing changes to the way that their respective organizations did their business. Prescriptive program planning was to be replaced by adaptive management frameworks: staff were called on to think and work politically. In 2017 the question was whether ‘Thinking and Working Politically’ (TWP) had become a second orthodoxy. This would now appear to be hubristic and can now be seen as a high-water mark for governance and political economy in the ‘aid industry’. Geopolitical changes have resulted in bilateral donors aggressively promoting their own interests. Donors’ commitment to TWP has diminished in line with a reduced interest in poverty reduction. This paper explains the emergence of the TWP agenda, what it was, how it flourished, and why it has withered. Donors seem to have decided to continue ‘Thinking and Working Apolitically’.

Keywords: Development Studies; Economics and Finance; Law - Academic; Politics and Public Policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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