Capacity Development as the Model for Development Aid Organizations Stefan

Sociological studies of organizational fashions tend to focus on commercial firms. This article looks at the Capacity Development concept that is globally applied as a model in governmentally supported development assistance organizations. The organizations themselves adopt the concept, asserting that an increase in 'capacities' in developing countries will contribute to a higher success rate for projects. This article argues that a primary function of concepts such as Capacity Development is to meet the legitimacy requirements of development assistance organizations. The more the effectiveness of these organizations is criticized or challenged, the more they feel the need to defend themselves by developing new and hopefully more effective concepts. DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE ORGANIZATIONS AND THE DIFFUSION OF ORGANIZATIONAL MODELS Since at least the 1960s, the classical form of technical and financial development assistance has been subject to increasing criticism. The main focus of this criticism has been the discrepancy between high investments and the sending of thousands of foreign experts to developing countries, on the one hand, and the unimpressive results achieved in the form of sustained development, on the other. There is a growing sense that development should rather be understood as an endogenous process of transformation that must be upheld by the developing countries themselves. Initially, most criticism came from outside the development assistance organizations, but since the late 1980s it has increasingly also come from within (see Berg, 1993; Morgan and Baser, 1993; UNDP, 1993). Among the major development assistance organizations there seems to be a growing conviction that technical co-operation with local institutions has not sufficiently enabled the developing countries to create their own 'sustainable capacities' (Nair, 2003). The World Bank, which greatly influences development policy, has stated that the practice of development assistance over the This article is based on an analysis of the relevant literature, which would not have been possible without the strong commitment of Pia Raffler to this research. The comments of the journal's anonymous referees are also gratefully acknowledged. Development and Change 40(3): 551-577 (2009). It) Institute of Social Studies 2009. Published by Blackwell Publishing, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main St., Malden, MA 02148, USA