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Spotlight presentation: What’s happening in Norway?

Spotlight presentation: What’s happening in Norway?. Hanne Haaland and Hege Wallevik University of Agder – Norway * WORK IN PROGRESS – NOT FOR CITATION . The situation in Norway. Previously not acknowledged as a field of research

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Spotlight presentation: What’s happening in Norway?

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  1. Spotlight presentation: What’s happening in Norway? Hanne Haaland and Hege Wallevik University of Agder – Norway * WORK IN PROGRESS – NOT FOR CITATION

  2. The situation in Norway • Previously not acknowledged as a field of research • Ignored by NGOs and NORAD (Directorate of development research) • Increasing awareness about the phenomenon • Our research since 2011, in the South and in Norway (qualitatively oriented - interviews, focus groups and document analysis)

  3. The project: Exploring the phenomenon of Norwegian personalized aid (PAID) WP 1: Contextualizing the phenomenon WP 2: Motivation – what motivates initiating aid projects in the South? WP 3 Manifestations and impacts of personalized aid abroad: case studies (Bolivia, Tanzania). WP 4: Production of «Selves» and «Others»: Mediation and representation WP 5: Impacts of new cultural spaces and practices in development aid

  4. Personalizedaid – what is it? • By personalized aid we refer to: Development projects run by individuals (one or more) in the North, that are based on established resource flows between individual givers in the North and their receivers in the South. These initiatives can range from being loosely organized and run on an ad-hoc manner and part time basis to structured initiatives with a more permanent set-up and on a full time basis. It does not include organizations which are formally registered as NGOs and others (Haaland and Wallevik 2013 – working definition).

  5. Why do personalized aid initiatives emerge? • Different motivations – yet some common ground: • Globalized world – increased North-South tourism, volunteerism • A growth in global philanthropy • The urge to do good • Increasing bureaucratization and professionalization of the NGO – sector/industry • A desire for close interaction between aid giver(s) and aid receiver(s) that the NGO-sector cannot facilitate • Social media (blogs, Facebook) facilitating financial support, involvement and interaction

  6. Our typology: 1. «accidental aid worker» • No previous experience required - entrepreneurship evolving • Based on the first often accidental, emotional encounter • One-to-one relationship – often expanding into more complex initiatives involving more people, places and activities • The idea of «applying yourself», to contribute with own efforts, experiences and working capacity • But also about identities in the making

  7. 2. The «aid entrepreneur» • Creating one’s own job within «aid land» (Fechter, 2011) • Not accidental – more of a planned encounter • Motivated by the possibility of contributing with own skills in a different context • Entering the personalized aid industry as an alternative to already established initiatives • The aid entrepreneur often has experienced gained in countries in the South • The aid entrepreneur often has some previous interaction with NORAD or the NGO – sector

  8. What happens in the South? • Unintended consequences – lack of contextual knowledge • «Trying and failing» • New development actors: • Asymmetric relationships • The «regime of goodness» (Tvedt 1999) at an individual level? • From the recipients’ side: allowing for “recipient entrepreneurs”? • A better interaction with existing local structures?

  9. Some common traits • «A personal awakening» • «Bureaucracy strikes back» • «Reaching people where people are» • «No administration costs»

  10. De-linked actors? • Welcome to the jungle - NGOs acknowledging increased competition for funds • A general trend of crowd funding – NGOs having to accept a similar trend in aid? • Established NGOs rethinking their approach and profile to accommodate the preferences of the donors (closeness to projects) • NORAD : a formalization or ignorance of the new actors? • Attempt to formalize initiatives? • A de-linking from formal priorities of aid recipient countries? • Recipient responsibility and national development plans

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