- with Irene Guijt, Chpt 1 Eyben and Guijt draft in (eds) R. Eyben, I Guijt, C. Roche and C. Shutt The Politics of Evidence and Results, Practical Action Publishing (f2015)
- ‘Promoting gender equality in the changing global landscape of international development cooperation’ in The Routledge Handbook on Gender and Development (2015)
- with Laura Turquet (2013) Chapter 1 Eyben and Turquet‘ Chapter One in Feminists in Development Organizations
- Chapter 2 Chapter Two in same book.
- Feminist identities’ , ‘Finding our organisational way’, ‘Intimate knowledge of the material at hand’ Chapters Four, Seven and Eleven in same book.
- (2011) ‘The sociality of international aid’ in (ed) D.Mosse Adventures in Aidland The anthropology of professionals in international development Berghahn Books: 139-160 .
In a book described by a referee as ’a profound contribution to the emerging field of “ethnography of aid’ , I capture the critical connection between policy thought and social relationships in a study of a local donor community that finds an ethnographic voice from within” professional spheres of practice.
(2011) Participation in international aid’ in (eds) A.Cornwall and I. Scoones Revolutionizing Development. Reflections on the work of Robert Chambers London, Earthscan: 59-66.
A critical historically informed examination of Chambers’ influence in international aid practice and discourse.
- (2009) ‘Hovering on the threshold. Challenges and opportunities for critical and reflexive ethnographic research in support of international aid practice in (eds) C.Widmark and S. Hagberg 2009. Ethnographic Practice and Public Aid: Methods and Meanings in Development Cooperation. Studies in Cultural Anthropology 45. University of Uppsala:73-100
This is my principal methodological paper about the challenges of researching aid donors, one that positions the anthropologist as a reflexive auto-ethnographer, retaining empathy for the insider’s position while sufficiently distanced to cultivate a critical faculty.
- (2007) ‘The making of a feminist in Aidland’ in (eds) A. Coles and A.M. Fechter Gender and Family among Transnational Professionals London, Routledge: 149-170
- (2007) ‘Battles over booklets. Gender myths in the British aid programme’ in (eds) A. Cornwall, E. Harrison and A. Whitehead Feminisms and Development: Contradictions, Contestations and Challenges, London, Zed Press: 65-78
An actor-oriented approach to the construction of policy text, this is a lively account of a succession of glossy booklets, illuminates the discursive politics of gender mainstreaming inside a development organisation.
- (2007) ‘Labelling people for aid’ in (eds) J. Moncrieffe and R. Eyben The Power of Labelling London, Earthscan: 33-47
Introducing into print, Apthorpe’s idea of Aidland, I analyse why labels such as ‘the poor’ matter so much in development practice and identify the special characteristics of aid bureaucracies that reinforce the power of labelling.
- (2006) ‘Making relationships matter for aid bureaucracies’ in R.Eyben (ed) 2006 Relationships for Aid London, Earthscan: 43-60
Developed from my widely cited IDS Bulletin article ‘Donors learning difficulties’, this chapter initiated three lines of work that I subsequently developed into (i) my research on feminist bureaucrats (Feminists in Development Organizations) (ii) an academic critique of results based management and a policy influencing strategy – the Big Push Forward – and the subsequent Politics of Evidence and Results and (iii) ‘Hiding Relations. The Irony of International Aid’, EJDR, 2010.
- (2006) with F. Wilson ‘Supporting rights and nurturing networks. The case of DFID in Peru in R.Eyben (ed) 2006 Relationships for Aid London, Earthscan: 111-132
- (2005) with Rosario Leon ‘WHOSE AID the case of the Bolivian elections project‘ in (eds) D. Mosse and D. Lewis ‘The Aid Effect’ London, Pluto Press: 106-125
I argue the importance of an insider ethnographic perspective to highlight the political contradictions and challenges in the aid relationship making innovative use of two voices – my own (the principal author) and Leon’s to tell the story from different perspectives, a methodology I was thereafter to use experimentally in my work with the DAC that I analyse in a forthcoming publication. .
- 2005 ‘Donors, rights-based approaches and implications for global citizenship: a case study from Peru’ in Kabeer, N. (ed) Inclusive Citizenship, London: Zed Books: 251-268
Through a case study of DFID’s programme in Peru, problematizes the pursuit of rights- based approaches by foreign governments in aid recipient countries, identifying paradoxes, dilemmas and possible ways forward.
- 2004 ‘Linking power and poverty reduction’ in (eds) R.Alsop and A. Norton Power,
- Rights,and Poverty: Concepts and Connections Washington DC,World Bank : 15-28
Introduces positionality and reflexivity into concepts of power and empowerment and develops thesis of donors as political actors.
- 2004 with Clare Ferguson ‘How can donors be more accountable to poor people?’ in (eds) R.Hinton & L. Groves Inclusive Aid, London, Earthscan:163-180
This chapter is popular on university reading lists and was innovative in introducing a discussion of multiple accountabilities that I subsequently developed in my working paper on mutual accountability (2008).
- 2004 ‘Who owns a poverty reduction strategy? A case of power, instruments and relationships in Bolivia’ in (eds) R.Hinton & L. Groves Inclusive Aid, London, Earthscan: 57-75
Written while still in Bolivia it represents my early thinking in the development of a relational approach to aid operations.
In the article “How Can Donors Become More Accountable to Poor People?” (Eyben and Ferguson, 2002), it is proposed that bilateral aid agencies are accountable to five categories of institution or persons: taxpayers in the donor country; government in the donor country; government in the recipient country; poor people in the recipient country; and the international human rights framework.
I understood that civil society and local organisations of the recipient country are included in the “poor people in the recipient country” category.
However, don’t you think, especially if we are looking at the accountability of donor with the rights lens, that we should have a distinct category for organisations in the recipient country with which the donor has a contractual relation with? In this category, we would find the donor’s grantees, that receive financial support in the form of grants, to implement development projects. This relation, donor/grantee, is particular, as it has at its basis a legally binding instrument (a contract) that is signed with the objective to positively impact the development of the concerned country. However, at the same time, this relation is extremely unbalanced in rights and in power with the donor being the strong part and the grantee the weak one. I have witnessed and experienced this inequity in power and in rights throughout my professional career several times.
Do you think it can be interesting to look more deeply into the relation between a donor and its grantees (especially when the grantee is a local organisation) and research the potential impact of the unbalanced contractual and power relation on the efficiency of the grantee’s action? Especially since a majority of donors have granted civil society a crucial role in Development and placed theses actors as key ones to translate the RBA into practice…
Thanks a lot for your work, past and future, and for sharing your thoughts on this point or advising readings that could help me with these questions. 🙂