Foreign Aid & Civil Society

A Book on Development Aid

So, international development assistance and aid does not work. Surprise, surprise! Now, we have a book – The White Man’s Burden – to tell us why.

I learnt of it in today’s International Herald Tribune. With little pressing work at the office, I read some more and finally found this review that for me is authoritative – Amartya Sen in Foreign Affairs.

Another review calls Easterly – the author – an anti-Thomas Friedman. We certainly need some of that, even if bashing IDA’s is popular and easy. The book looks promising, so I have added it to my growing list of books-to-be-read.

Still, if the book celebrates – without qualification – grassroots initiatives that can just as easily be driven by skewed incentives or face structural challenges, then this book does not really provide an alternative – nor an entirely balanced perspective. Any recommendations?