This dissertation investigates how Swedish official aid policy constructed the role of research for development in low-income countries between 1973 and 2008. The overarching purpose of the study is to contribute to an understanding of how science has been conceived of as a tool for progress in the post-World War II period.
The report was presented during the seminar Svenska biståndsformer.
Main findings
- There are two central perspectives that flow through the policy development of Sarec during its entire existence: the universalist and the localist discourses.The localist discourse, with its stronger emphasis on context and anti-colonial critique, is dominant during the first and founding years. The universalist discourse is always by its side, however, underlining the general validity of international research results and defining development in more linear terms.
- The perspectives represent different views of science, knowledge and development. Both discourses, however, “believe in” the power of modern science to enable development in low-income countries, and they consider local/national research capacity to be central. They differ in views of how to achieve development through the use of research; defining development problems in different ways and underlining certain modes of support over others for example.
Author
Veronica Brodén Gyberg