Knowledge for Development? by Simon Mcgrath

Knowledge for Development? by Simon Mcgrath

In 1996, the World Bank President, James Wolfensohn, declared that his organization would henceforth be 'the knowledge bank'. This marked the beginning of a new discourse of knowledge-based aid, which has spread rapidly across the development field. This book is the first detailed attempt to analyse this new discourse. Through an examination of four agencies -- the World Bank, the British Department for International Development, the Japan International Cooperation Agency and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency -- the book explores what this new approach to aid means in both theory and practice. It concludes that too much emphasis has been on developing capacity within agencies rather than addressing the expressed needs of Southern 'partners'. It also questions whether knowledge-based aid leads to greater agency certainty about what constitutes good development.

'In this excellent book the authors present a detailed analysis and a balanced assessment of the prospects for knowledge-based aid to achieve the goal of improving aid-effectivenessBased on conceptual framework setting and a close examination of actual experience they reach the conclusion that success depends on reconceptualizing aid itself, in the direction of capacity building in poor countries.' Ravi Kanbur, Cornell University 'Knowledge management is popular. Aid agencies talk easily of sharing stories, communities of practice and double-loop learning. But are they ready to sacrifice a preoccupation with results and a concern to disseminate 'best-practice' - in favour of real partnership and mutual learning across divergent networks? McGrath and King are sceptical. Their case studies and their thesis challenge all of us involved in the production, sharing, and use of knowledge.' Simon Maxwell, Overseas Development Institute, and President of the Development Studies Association of the UK and Ireland

Kenneth King is an Emeritus Professor of the University of Edinburgh. He was based in and directed its Centre of African Studies for many years, and lectured on international perspectives in education and training in its School of Education. His research interests have addressed the politics and planning of skills development, including in the informal sector of the economy, aid policies towards education of both Western and Asian donors, and higher education cooperation. He founded NORRAG, the network for international policies and cooperation in education and training, in 1986, and edited NORRAG News until 2016. He was President of the British Association for International and Comparative Education (BAICE) from 2014-2016, and was one of the founding members of the UK Forum on International Education and Training (UKFIET).

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781842773253
ISBN 10	1842773259
Title	Knowledge for Development?
Author	Simon Mcgrath
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Zed Books
Year published	2004-02-01
Number of pages	256
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable