Developmental dilemmas and political culture in Ethiopia and the Horn: local refractions of state policies

The project addresses programs and discourses of ‘development’ in Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa in their relation to politics, focusing on the issue of local interpretations of, and responses to, state-led developmental efforts. The conflagration of donor-policies, top-down state plans and local views/aspirations constitutes a field of tension and often inhibits ‘development’ in the broad sense. This field needs study so as to improve policies.

Research project
Period: 
2008 to 2021
Status: 
Ongoing

Senior researchers

Keywords

developmentalism; state politics; economic policy; human rights; local political culture; donor policy dilemmas; resistance

Funding and cooperation

Funding: 

African Studies Centre Leiden, Netherlands

Additional information

Research output: 

- Chapter in edited book (Abbink & de Bruijn 2011), entitled ‘Democracy deferred: understanding elections and the role of donors in Ethiopia’, a.o. - Co-edited volume (in progress) - 3 papers - conference presentations, media interviews, etc.