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No-nonsense Guide to International Development (No-Nonsense Guides)
 
 
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No-nonsense Guide to International Development (No-Nonsense Guides) [Paperback]

Maggie Black (Author)
5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
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Product details

  • Paperback: 144 pages
  • Publisher: New Internationalist Publications Ltd (20 Sep 2007)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1904456634
  • ISBN-13: 978-1904456636
  • Product Dimensions: 18 x 14.6 x 1.2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 60,795 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Maggie Black
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Review

'I sincerely hope this No-Nonsense Guide toInternational Development reaches and informs anew section of thinking people across the world.Let as many of them as possible become supportersof and participants in the new politics of transformation.'Medha Patkar, Narmada Valley People's Movement, India "In this book, Maggie Black, a leading writer on development issues, convincingly reveals the flaws of the prevailing views on and practices in international development. But she does not stop here, drawing on a vast array of literature, documents and studies as well as a wide and profound personal experience, she forcefully shows new and feasible ways on how to improve the living conditions of millions of people who have to make do with not more than one Euro per day. In this sense, this book is a true and welcoming guide." Amazon Customer Review (5 Stars)

Product Description

'Overseas aid' and 'international development' are catch-all terms that cover a multitude of activities - and abuses. Building dams in India, planting trees in Burkina Faso and rescuing street children in Brazil are images of development with which we can all identify. But what few people realize is that the terms aid and development often mask confusion, contradiction, and even downright deceit. This guide explains what 'development' actually is - and explores its political and economic roots in history. It shows what can happen in the name of development and argues for a more organic, social approach with those it seeks to serve as equal partners in the process.
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful
A true guide! 7 Dec 2002
Format:Paperback
In this book, Maggie Black, a leading writer on development issues, convincingly reveals the flaws of the prevailing views on and practices in international development. But she does not stop here, drawing on a vast array of literature, documents and studies as well as a wide and profound personal experience, she forcefully shows new and feasible ways on how to improve the living conditions of millions of people who have to make do with not more than one Euro per day. In this sense, this book is a true and welcoming guide.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Having personally been involved in the humanitarian world, which left me with question marks about whether international aid is a good or bad thing, I can honestly say that this no-nonsense guidebook has been the most helpful literature so far. It does not give one concrete answer, the debate being ongoing. Yet, it is a great little book objectively covering a wide span of the international aid debate with insightful observations that touch both on theory and practice. It is written in academic style, but being compact in size, very much to the point and full of examples, make it an interesting read.
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Amazon.com:  6 reviews
13 of 15 people found the following review helpful
"According to statistics she does not work!" 17 Nov 2002
By Martin G. Beyer - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
"ACCORDING TO STATISTICS SHE DOES NOT WORK!" That is the caption below a poster with a photograph of an African woman, lugging an enormous bunch of tree branches for firewood on her head, endlessly trailing through the Sahelian bush. The poster is published by what is probably the smallest and, typically, least publicized of all United Nations bodies, INSTRAW, the UN Institute for Research and Training on the Advancement of Women, based in Santo Domingo.

That poster with its caption to this reviewer illustrates one of the many points, well taken and well given, by Maggie Black in the surprisingly small, immensely condensed volume on "International Development".

There certainly is a wealth of literature on this subject out there, as well as journals, such as that of the publisher of this book, The New Internationalist. There seem to be very few documents, though, which in such concise, yet readable form present one of the most complex issues of our time.

First of all, let me state that this book with its handy format should find its place in the pocket of anybody, anywhere in the world, in any professional and/or political camp, with an interest in making our globe more livable for everybody, or at least giving it a good try.

In at least one country you can find in primary school libraries among all the school books and teachers' manuals, nothing less than Clausewitz' oeuvre on how to conduct a war. Without any other comparison, it appears that Maggie Black with this, her latest work, is becoming the Clausewitz of international development.

Fact-loaded sentence by sentence, the reader is given as good a definition of "development" as you could get it. It is followed by an accurate description of the many variations of the theme, as it has unfolded since the end of World War Two, up to the UN Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in August 2002 - just a little over two months ago (this being written in mid-November 2002).

Even for those with a long personal experience in development work, this work provides a wonderful overview, not the least in the historical part - witness to the author's academic background as a historian. Despite the small and incredibly fact-rich dimensions of the book, Maggie Black manages to insert human examples with real people exemplifying where some of the ideas came from, and what it took to achieve some results.

"International development" and the "development industry" grown up around this issue have many critics, some even verging on cynicism. This slim volume helps to clarify the issues, giving the truth, the truth, and nothing but the truth. In the same time it avoids the many political pitfalls, in writing such a review, or, really, evaluation. Against the backdrop of so much emotion, frequently violent around the development of humanity and its agents and agencies, rarely does one see such an evenhanded approach as that presented here.

In spite of the many setbacks, the winding way of history, and the continued bleak outlook for the poor half of humanity, Maggie Black ends on a positive note, essentially saying, "Do not give up!" To this reviewer, even if that may sound cynical, although it is not intended to be, it reminds him of one of his favourite sayings, that of the old Swedish farmer taking his young son out into the star-studded night, saying "Sikta mot stjärnorna, min son! Åtminstone kan Du hamna på lagårdstaket!" In other words, in another language: "Aim at the stars, my son! At least it will land you on the roof of the cowshed!"

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Essential if depressing reading 8 Dec 2002
By Richard N. Middleton - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
Anyone who is involved in the "development business" should read this book. As one would expect from this author, it's well-informed, beautifully written, and entirely persuasive. It's also brief enough to read in one session, by the end of which one is devastated by the realization that, whoever "development" benefits, it certainly isn't the poor (or any other currently fashionable "target population"). I wish that I had had the skill, at some point during my 35 years trying to help people in developing countries, to marshall these arguments and try to convince the remote decision-makers that process and buzz-words only take one so far - eventually one has to provide poor people with what they themselves need, want and value. Unfortunately, it seems unlikely that the international bureacracy will ever read this book or take its lessons to heart - but they should!
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Essential reading for students of international development 30 Dec 2002
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
Short, concise and witty. This book should be on all student essential reading lists, as well as required reading for all international development 'experts'.
Maggie Black has produced a basic guide to the current international development scene and tells us how we got to this chronic state of affairs. There is no panacea or quick fix, but she does make many suggestions on how we could go about undoing some of the harm perpetuated in the name of development.
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