International Assistance: A Problem Posing as a Solution
Author(s)
David C. Korten
Abstract
This article builds from the arguments set forward in David C. Korten, “Development as Transformation: Voluntary Action in the 1990s,” Development, 1990:3/4. That article argued that pursuit of a growth-centered development vision has led to a growing global crisis of deepening poverty, environmental destruction, and communal violence. Continued pursuit of solutions to the crisis based on this vision may result in a complete collapse of the global ecology and the remaining bonds of human community–the foundations of life and civilization. A global people’s movement is emerging calling for a basic reorientation in how development is defined and approached. Its people-centered vision gives priority to the transformation of societal values and institutions consistent with the principles of justice, sustainability, and inclusiveness. In this article Korten examines why conventional international assistance poses an active barrier to this transformation. He argues that it may be time to dismantle the existing international assistance system and build a more appropriate approach to international cooperation able to resolve problems shared in common by all of human society.
