Avoiding Responsibility
The Politics and Discourse of European Development Policy
By (author) Nathalie Karagiannis
Publication date:
20 May 2004Length of book:
208 pagesPublisher
Pluto PressISBN-13: 9781849642224
Post-colonial European politics have undergone profound changes. Constructing an intellectual history of European development discourse, this book brings together post-structuralist and critical approaches to understanding development.
Nathalie Karagiannis analyses three key terms of European development discourse: 'responsibility', 'efficiency' and 'giving'. Situating these terms in a concrete history of European post-colonial politics, the author shows how European policy has shifted from accepting responsibility for colonialism - constructed as it is on the paternalistic model of the gift - to a more amnesiac politics in which post-colonial countries are responsible for their own fate.
Nathalie Karagiannis analyses three key terms of European development discourse: 'responsibility', 'efficiency' and 'giving'. Situating these terms in a concrete history of European post-colonial politics, the author shows how European policy has shifted from accepting responsibility for colonialism - constructed as it is on the paternalistic model of the gift - to a more amnesiac politics in which post-colonial countries are responsible for their own fate.