Knowledge for Development? Comparing British, Japanese, Swedish and World Bank Aid

by King, Kenneth; McGrath, Simon

• ISBN13: 9781842773253
• ISBN10: 1842773259
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-05-07
• Publisher: ZED BOOKS

Summary

In 1996, the World Bank President, James Wolfensohn, declared that his organization would henceforth be "the knowledge bank." This statement marks the beginning in earnest of a new discourse of knowledge-based aid, which has spread rapidly across the development field. This book is the first detailed attempt to analyze this new discourse and practice. Through an examination of four agencies--the World Bank, the British Department for International Development, the Japan International Cooperation Agency and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency--the book explores what this new approach to aid means in both theory and practice. It argues that too much of the emphasis of knowledge-based aid has been on developing capacity within agencies rather than addressing the expressed needs of Southern "partners." Moreover, it questions whether knowledge-based aid leads to greater agency certainty about what constitutes good development.

Author Biography

Kenneth King and Simon McGrath, are both at the Centre of African Studies, University of Edinburgh.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	vii
List of abbreviations and acronyms	ix
1 Researching knowledge-based aid	1	(17)
Setting the scene	1	(2)
Research questions	3	(1)
A new way of researching; a new way of working	3	(12)
The structure of the book	15	(3)
2 The new aid agenda	18	(14)
The changing fashions of development cooperation	18	(7)
Aid discourse at the start of the new millennium	25	(7)
3 Knowledge for development	32	(23)
The origins of knowledge-based aid	32	(5)
Knowledge-based aid	37	(12)
Alternative accounts of knowledge and development	49	(3)
A concluding comment	52	(3)
4 The World Bank or the knowledge bank?	55	(44)
The discovery of knowledge-based aid in the World Bank	55	(1)
The World Bank's older knowledge strategies	56	(2)
The World Bank's vision of knowledge for development	58	(7)
Revising the strategy: the Ramphele review and a shifting focus for the knowledge bank	65	(5)
The new architecture of the knowledge bank	70	(20)
The knowledge bank in practice: assessing the extent of transformation	90	(9)
5 From information management to knowledge sharing: DFID's unfinished revolution	99	(31)
DFID's knowledge discourses	99	(10)
DFID's knowledge projects	109	(9)
DFID's knowledge products	118	(3)
DFID's knowledge practices	121	(2)
How should we judge DFID's approach to knowledge and development?	123	(7)
6 Knowledge, learning and capacity in the Swedish approach to development cooperation	130	(25)
Historical overview	130	(3)
Sida's discourses of knowledge, learning and capacity	133	(10)
Sida as a generator of development knowledge	143	(2)
Sida's initiatives to support knowledge, learning and capacity development	145	(2)
Knowledge and learning in practice	147	(5)
Conclusion	152	(3)
7 Experience, experts and knowledge in Japanese aid policy and practice	155	(41)
Japan's own experience of development	156	(7)
Japan's multiple external sources of development expertise	163	(7)
Sources of policy knowledge in Japanese development assistance	170	(3)
Knowledge-sharing initiatives in a culture of valuing experience	173	(3)
Knowledge management in JICA: a new approach	176	(10)
Other mechanisms for sharing development knowledge	186	(3)
Conclusion on sharing expertise for development	189	(7)
8 Conclusions and implications for knowledge, aid and development	196	(17)
Where does knowledge-based aid come from, and is it just a passing fashion?	196	(1)
Does knowledge-based aid work?	197	(11)
Knowledge-based aid or learning-led development?	208	(1)
Knowledge-based aid and knowledge, aid and development: concluding thoughts	209	(4)
Bibliography	213	(17)
Index	230