Doing ‘Us-Them’ differently: the identity work of frontline aid bureaucrats in translating aid effectiveness policy rhetoric into practice
ABSTRACTBilateral aid agencies often face implementation challenges in internal efforts to address long-standing aid fragmentation and effectiveness issues. This article introduces the organizational identity concept to understand better these challenges by examining how Swedish International Develo...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Development Studies Research |
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| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/21665095.2023.2186210 |
| _version_ | 1797393010807275520 |
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| author | Jenny Iao-Jörgensen |
| author_facet | Jenny Iao-Jörgensen |
| author_sort | Jenny Iao-Jörgensen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | ABSTRACTBilateral aid agencies often face implementation challenges in internal efforts to address long-standing aid fragmentation and effectiveness issues. This article introduces the organizational identity concept to understand better these challenges by examining how Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) frontline staff understand their role and organizational goals in light of shifting demands to coordinate and align Swedish government agencies’ (SGA) aid engagements. SGAs implement 10-15% of Swedish bilateral aid annually. A recent government strategy prioritizes strengthening partner countries’ public institutions and partnerships in line with the Agenda 2030 for sustainable development. Analysis of interviews and focus group data reveals a general shift among bureaucrats beyond the traditional us-them funder identity, to embrace a range of other identity orientations in the Sida-SGA relationship. The various orientations reflected Sida frontline bureaucrats’ diverse interpretations of their individual authority and socialized sense-making of ambivalent organizational changes, as they grapple with questions of ‘Who we should be?’ and ‘What we should do?’ on the frontline. The study provides a fine-grained view of the essential attitudes, skills and behavior on the frontline that influence aid relationships and the implementation of aid effectiveness principles, adding nuance to the existing aid effectiveness literature. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T23:55:57Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-933871e86ad443819d902f21b3504a8e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2166-5095 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T23:55:57Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Development Studies Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-933871e86ad443819d902f21b3504a8e2023-12-13T04:57:02ZengTaylor & Francis GroupDevelopment Studies Research2166-50952023-12-0110110.1080/21665095.2023.2186210Doing ‘Us-Them’ differently: the identity work of frontline aid bureaucrats in translating aid effectiveness policy rhetoric into practiceJenny Iao-Jörgensen0Division of Risk Management and Societal Safety, Department of Building and Environmental Technology, Faculty of Engineering, Lund University, Lund, SwedenABSTRACTBilateral aid agencies often face implementation challenges in internal efforts to address long-standing aid fragmentation and effectiveness issues. This article introduces the organizational identity concept to understand better these challenges by examining how Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) frontline staff understand their role and organizational goals in light of shifting demands to coordinate and align Swedish government agencies’ (SGA) aid engagements. SGAs implement 10-15% of Swedish bilateral aid annually. A recent government strategy prioritizes strengthening partner countries’ public institutions and partnerships in line with the Agenda 2030 for sustainable development. Analysis of interviews and focus group data reveals a general shift among bureaucrats beyond the traditional us-them funder identity, to embrace a range of other identity orientations in the Sida-SGA relationship. The various orientations reflected Sida frontline bureaucrats’ diverse interpretations of their individual authority and socialized sense-making of ambivalent organizational changes, as they grapple with questions of ‘Who we should be?’ and ‘What we should do?’ on the frontline. The study provides a fine-grained view of the essential attitudes, skills and behavior on the frontline that influence aid relationships and the implementation of aid effectiveness principles, adding nuance to the existing aid effectiveness literature.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/21665095.2023.2186210Frontline bureaucratbilateral aidorganizational identityaid effectivenessaid relationshipSweden |
| spellingShingle | Jenny Iao-Jörgensen Doing ‘Us-Them’ differently: the identity work of frontline aid bureaucrats in translating aid effectiveness policy rhetoric into practice Development Studies Research Frontline bureaucrat bilateral aid organizational identity aid effectiveness aid relationship Sweden |
| title | Doing ‘Us-Them’ differently: the identity work of frontline aid bureaucrats in translating aid effectiveness policy rhetoric into practice |
| title_full | Doing ‘Us-Them’ differently: the identity work of frontline aid bureaucrats in translating aid effectiveness policy rhetoric into practice |
| title_fullStr | Doing ‘Us-Them’ differently: the identity work of frontline aid bureaucrats in translating aid effectiveness policy rhetoric into practice |
| title_full_unstemmed | Doing ‘Us-Them’ differently: the identity work of frontline aid bureaucrats in translating aid effectiveness policy rhetoric into practice |
| title_short | Doing ‘Us-Them’ differently: the identity work of frontline aid bureaucrats in translating aid effectiveness policy rhetoric into practice |
| title_sort | doing us them differently the identity work of frontline aid bureaucrats in translating aid effectiveness policy rhetoric into practice |
| topic | Frontline bureaucrat bilateral aid organizational identity aid effectiveness aid relationship Sweden |
| url | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/21665095.2023.2186210 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jennyiaojorgensen doingusthemdifferentlytheidentityworkoffrontlineaidbureaucratsintranslatingaideffectivenesspolicyrhetoricintopractice |