Understanding development aid and state autonomy : the case of European Union budget support to Mozambique

Ndlovu, Ana Admiração

Title: Understanding development aid and state autonomy : the case of European Union budget support to Mozambique
Creator: Ndlovu, Ana Admiração
Subject: Economic assistance, European -- Mozambique
Subject: Economic development -- Mozambique
Subject: Mozambique -- Economic conditions
Subject: Autonomy
Subject: Budget -- Mozambique
Date Issued: 2014
Date: 2014
Type: Thesis
Type: Masters
Type: MSocSc
Identifier: vital:3378
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013218
Description: Post-colonial states in Africa continue to pursue nation-building and socio-economic development. This process is taking place with the sustained support of global agencies in terms of development cooperation, assistance and aid. Insofar as an endogenous development path which speaks to national priorities can be formulated and implemented by post-colonial states, their relationship with these agencies raises serious questions about such a path if the relationship entails dependence and indeed subordination of post-colonial states. This raises important questions about state autonomy under post-colonial conditions and the possibility of autonomy being compromised. In this light, the thesis examines European Union budget support to Mozambique and, in particular, the relationship between EU budget support and Mozambique state autonomy in pursuing national development. This is particularly pertinent given the massive dependence of the Mozambican state on foreign funding (notably EU funding) with specific regard to the national budget. Despite the broad claims existing in the prevailing literature that nation-state autonomy is seriously undermined in and through the international development system, the thesis argues against reductionist arguments that simply posit post-colonial states as mere instruments of global forces. This system, including European Union budget support, does indeed set the conditions of existence for post-colonial states such as Mozambique. But autonomy is necessarily relative and is subject to different forms and degrees. Ultimately, it is through empirical investigation that the specific form and degree of autonomy can be pinpointed and understood. The thesis contributes to this endeavour and suggests that the relationship between European budget support and Mozambican state autonomy is more complex and tension-riddled than the prevailing literature would seem to suggest.
Format: 146 p.
Format: pdf
Publisher: Rhodes University
Publisher: Faculty of Humanities, Sociology
Language: English
Rights: Ndlovu, Ana Admiração

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