Development or Underdevelopment: The Case of Non-Governmental Organizations in Neoliberal Sub-Saharan Africa
Titel:
Development or Underdevelopment: The Case of Non-Governmental Organizations in Neoliberal Sub-Saharan Africa
Auteur:
Maureen Kihika
Verschenen in:
Journal of alternative perspectives in the social sciences
Paginering:
Jaargang 1 (2009) nr. 3 pagina's 783-795
Jaar:
2009
Inhoud:
As a result of persistent development crisis, there is anexplosive growth in the presence of multi-lateral Western NonGovernmental Organizations (NGOS) and other privately fundedcharitable organizations in the developing world, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Although the objective of the various developmentagencies is to reduce poverty and foster development for marginalpopulations, the effectiveness of their mission is ultimately dependent on thenderlying framework of neoliberalism. Essentially, the global conomic system of neoliberalism is not equipped as an all inclusivesystem that seeks to bridge social-economic inequality but is instead, abiased system which Porter and Craig (2004) describe as geneticallyoriented to protecting existing property rights and providing for theirexpansion. Given the prejudicial nature of the economic system therefore,it is difficult to see the work of NGOS as anything more than temporaryand ineffective band-aid solutions to Africa’s recurring nightmare ofpoverty and underdevelopment. In this vain, this paper argues that it isimperative to question whether the recent upsurge of developmentinitiatives is a genuine call for development, or just another tacticalmaneuver that favors the propertied and the powerful at the expense of thepoor. The Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPS) and theMillennium Development Goals (MDGS) have hereby been used as themost recent frames of reference for multi-lateral developmentinterventions in Africa. I question whether these development policies,infused with apoliticized language that everyone agrees with, will offerany real hope for a different world free from poverty. Overall, this papergives a short historical account of neoliberalism in Africa as auniversalizing discourse whose fundamentals have historically taken forgranted socio-economic and cultural diversities. It also discusses recentneoliberal social engineering as a carefully organized system that istaking place against the backdrop of global political-economic continuity,thereby maintaining neoliberal economic fundamentals and fulfilling thecapitalist goal of constant acquisition for newer markets. The paperconcludes that development agencies create heavy reliance on externalmarkets, furthering the goal of capitalist expansion and acquisition fornewer markets.
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