In the Name of Progress
Underside of Foreign Aid
Published on 26. March 1992
Book
Paperback/Softback
240 pages
978-1-85383-121-8 (ISBN)
Description
The well-known failures of foreign aid - machines rusting in fields for want of simple spares, supplies never reaching the right people, corrupt leaders lining their pockets - are only the tip of the iceberg. All too often foreign aid can become an instrument of harm that plunders the environment, increases human suffering and even violates the human rights that we, who sit at home, think we are helping. The villains seem to be the huge energy projects, especially the hydro-electric dams, driving people from their land, destroying their cultures and trampling on religious rights. The perpetrators are not the individuals who approve these vast projects but the process that permits these atrocities to occur - a process that is tainted at every step of the way, from the role of our own governments to that of the governments in the Third World. This book spells out the damage that our foreign aid has wrought, explains where the process went wrong and sets out the remedies needed to prevent future repetition.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 200 mm
Weight
300 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-85383-121-8 (9781853831218)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Content
Part 1 Dispossessing the disenfranchised - the foreign aid myths: foreign aid is humanitarian and does not violate human rights; eventually, the billions we're spending on our energy aid will pay off for the Third World's poor; whatever else happens, developing renewable resources, such as hydroelectricity, means that our gift will last forever; we can kill two birds with one stone by giving the Third World our products, boosting our own economy and helping the needy abroad. Part 2 The dispossession rationalized - myths about population and resources: the Third World, with its billions of people, is straining the world's resources; no wonder they're running out of food and fuel - until they control their population it's a losing battle; the tragedy of deforestation is the tragedy of the commons; the Third World can't afford to worry about protecting its environment when it has more important things to worry about - like feeding its billions; floods are an act of God; development experts have learned a lot from the mistakes they have made in the past. Part 3 Technological fixes - myths about what the Third World needs: we need to switch to nuclear power to save the world's scarce resources for the Third World; the Third World needs nuclear power because it can't afford oil; rural electrification will transform the depressed and stagnant rural areas of the Third World into healthy economic centers - it will increase agricultural output, promote rural industries, create rural employment, lower birth rates, and improve the quality of rural life; we should export our solar technology to the Third World; the Third World should skip the oil era and get directly onto renewable energy; Third World people don't know what is in their own self-interest - look at the way they squander woodfuel, for example. Conclusions - Toward empowerment: these are no myths.