2013 Awards for Excellence
Article Type: 2013 Awards for Excellence From: International Journal of Development Issues, Volume 13, Issue 1
The following article was selected for this year’s Outstanding Paper Award for International Journal of Development Issues
"Neoliberal peace and the development deficit in post-conflict Sierra Leone"
Ngambouk Vitalis Pemunta
Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Central European University, Budapest, Hungary
The purpose of this paper is to examine the structural factors responsible for why “donor darling has not changed the pitfalls of stagnation and lifted post-conflict Sierra Leone out of poverty. The study adopts a bottom-up approach (“through the eyes of the poor) and a combination of primary and secondary research methods – substantial desk research to investigate and review documentation related to the project and field interviews with development stakeholders at the national, district, and community levels with humanitarian aid workers, local civil society organisations, international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and national government officials. It is argued that aid without the necessary local institutional structure for effective coordination and stringent aid conditionality – and therefore narrow focus – has stifled sustainable socio-economic development initiatives. The international communitys narrow definition and support for liberal peace, in tandem with the overarching neoliberal economic paradigm and failure to embrace an inclusivist approach to peacebuilding, has further stonewalled effective reconstruction, growth and development. The paper calls the attention of development NGOs to be self-reflexive, “wear native spectacles, coordinate their actions and avoid “development as dependence, by prioritizing what matters most to the beneficiaries of development. The basis of effective and sustainable socio-economic development is institutional building.
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Keywords: Aid agencies, Aid conditionality, Aid coordination, Institutional building, International aid, International development aid, Non-governmental organizations, Peacebuilding, Post-conflict transition, Reconstruction, Sierra Leone, Sustainable development
This article originally appeared in Volume 11 Number 3, 2012. International Journal of Development Issues
The following articles were selected for this year’s Highly Commended Award
“Developing e-skills for competitiveness, growth and employment in the 21st century: the European perspective
Sumanjeet Singh
This article originally appeared in Volume 11 Number 1, 2012, International Journal of Development Issues
“Climate change adaptation: business-as-usual aid and development or an emerging discourse for change?
Philip Ireland
This article originally appeared in Volume 11 Number 2, 2012, International Journal of Development Issues
“Constraints of grassland science, pastoral management and policy in Northern China: anthropological perspectives on degradational narratives
James Taylor
This article originally appeared in Volume 11 Number 3, 2012, International Journal of Development Issues
Outstanding reviewers
D. Denny Lie
Dr Mafiz Rahman
