Between rhetoric and practice of localisation in aid and development: poetic interventions

Abstract

The localisation agenda has become mired in obfuscation, distraction, justification and contradiction, with many of the genuinely transformative, systemic changes being steadily sidelined. This article explores the gap between the rhetoric and practice of localisation. We approach the debates from the perspective of a Malawian NGO, as well as from our recent research collaboration. Using a series of poetic and metaphorical interventions from arts-based research workshops, together with wider metaphors from the literature, we discuss four key concerns with the localisation debates. This includes attention to how the extant development funding regime functions to keep organisations in silenced subservience; definitions “capacity” as used in the localisation debates; the value of a postcolonial lens to uncover damages of development; and finally examples of some brazen practices being deployed to pass as “local”. We end seeking to enliven visions of “genuine” localisation, calling for sustainable, regenerative and restorative development.

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