Exporting stimulus and ‘shared prosperity’: Re-inventing foreign aid for a retroliberal era

The global aid world has changed, partly in response to both the re-configurations of geopolitical power and to the global financial crisis (GFC). Paradoxically, in the face of recession in most Northern economies, collectively foreign aid contributions have not fallen. However there has been a qualitative shift in its narrative and nature. This new regime – which we term retroliberalism – projects the concept of ‘shared prosperity’ but constitutes a return to explicit self-interest designed to bolster private sector trade and investment. Drawing evidence from New Zealand the United Kingdom, we argue that aid programmes are increasingly functioning as ‘exported stimulus’ packages.

Description

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Mawdsley, E, Murray, WE, Overton, J, Scheyvens, R, Banks, G. Exporting stimulus and “shared prosperity”: Reinventing foreign aid for a retroliberal era. Dev Policy Rev. 2018; 36: O25– O43. https://doi.org/10.1111/dpr.12282 , which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/dpr.12282 . This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.

Keywords

DFID, international aid, New Zealand, NZAID, ODA, retroliberalism, shared prosperity United Kingdom

Citation

DEVELOPMENT POLICY REVIEW, 2018, 36 pp. O25 - O43

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