Diffusion, Fusion, and Confusion: Development Cooperation in a Multiplex World Order

Abstract

Development cooperation (DC) is shaped by norms. We aim at filling a gap of research on DC by using the academic debates in international relations on norms. Contrary to interpretations that consider developed countries as norm-makers and developing countries as norm-takers, our analysis provides evidence that—and highlights how—Southern agents have influenced the processes of norm-setting and norm-diffusion for DC. The OECD was the dominant norms “entrepreneur” for a long period of time; more recently, developing countries have played a significant role in setting DC norms. We identify the diverging norms for official development assistance and South-South cooperation and the interrelationship between both norm systems. Thus, norm-making, norm-taking, and norm-diffusion of two competing norm clusters are key terms of the contribution.

Challenges of cooperation for development: A case‐study analysis of Cuban health solidarity programmes in Nigeria

“…' Gray and Gills (2016) reiterate the significance of a 'vision of mutual benefit and solidarity among the disadvantaged of the world system [whereby SSC] conveys the hope that development may be achieved by the poor themselves through their mutual assistance to one another, and the whole world order transformed to reflect their mutual interests vis-à-vis the dominant global North' [emphasis is ours]. Simultaneously, SSC is an instrument by which providing countries can potentially increase their soft power and influence within global governance systems (Esteves & Klingebiel, 2021). Various patterns and actors come to play within the framework of SSC including those by Baydag (2021) described as 'middle powers' like South Korea and Turkey, with Turkey increasingly active in trade and service delivery with many African countries.…”

“…Gosovic (2016) argues that the importance of SSC goes beyond ‘the quest to develop and diversify their economies, [but it is] a political project of emancipation, liberation, political and economic independence, of transcending the unidirectional links with the North and vestiges of the colonial era, and of gaining influence and voice in world affairs by pooling forces and acting collectively.’ Gray and Gills (2016) reiterate the significance of a ‘vision of mutual benefit and solidarity among the disadvantaged of the world system [whereby SSC] conveys the hope that development may be achieved by the poor themselves through their mutual assistance to one another, and the whole world order transformed to reflect their mutual interests vis‐à‐vis the dominant global North’ [emphasis is ours]. Simultaneously, SSC is an instrument by which providing countries can potentially increase their soft power and influence within global governance systems (Esteves & Klingebiel, 2021). Various patterns and actors come to play within the framework of SSC including those by Baydag (2021) described as ‘middle powers’ like South Korea and Turkey, with Turkey increasingly active in trade and service delivery with many African countries.…”

‘It Takes Two to Tango’: South–South Cooperation Measurement Politics in a Multiplex World

“…The field of global development provides a fertile ground for unpacking some of the ongoing complexities of the current multiplex world. It allows for examining how the increased material, political, and symbolic competition between ‘old’/‘Northern’ and ‘new’/‘Southern’ development cooperation providers has created policy and normative diffusion and convergence, but also disputes and friction (Esteves & Klingebiel, 2021; Mawdsley, 2017).…”