TY - JOUR
T1 - Theories, rhetoric and practice
T2 - Recovering the capacities of war-torn societies
AU - Barakat, Sultan
AU - Chard, Margaret
PY - 2002
Y1 - 2002
N2 - As international attention focuses on the rebuilding of Afghanistan, this paper looks critically at the evolution and meaning of the core concepts underpinning aims and strategies for recovery: the key role of institutional development and capacity building in establishing good governance based on collaboration between state, civil society and market; the empirical consensus, over many decades, for best practice in development; the acknowledgement that recovery of war-torn societies is a development challenge. It is shown that, despite this understanding, operational practice continues to contradict the principles and lessons learned from proven experience. The financial and administrative culture of the international institutions, lack of political will, donor conditionality and recipients' contrary agendas are seen to contribute to this failure. The paper concludes by examining the implications of this analysis for the recovery of Afghanistan.
AB - As international attention focuses on the rebuilding of Afghanistan, this paper looks critically at the evolution and meaning of the core concepts underpinning aims and strategies for recovery: the key role of institutional development and capacity building in establishing good governance based on collaboration between state, civil society and market; the empirical consensus, over many decades, for best practice in development; the acknowledgement that recovery of war-torn societies is a development challenge. It is shown that, despite this understanding, operational practice continues to contradict the principles and lessons learned from proven experience. The financial and administrative culture of the international institutions, lack of political will, donor conditionality and recipients' contrary agendas are seen to contribute to this failure. The paper concludes by examining the implications of this analysis for the recovery of Afghanistan.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=14644418035&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/0143659022000028639
DO - 10.1080/0143659022000028639
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:14644418035
SN - 0143-6597
VL - 23
SP - 817
EP - 835
JO - Third World Quarterly
JF - Third World Quarterly
IS - 5
ER -