Does Western “Aid” Work?--Changing Discourses and Logics

International aid,always concerned as the Western aid,has been in decades' development after the Second World War.From the Post-colonial time to the era of globalisation,from Washington Consensus to the Post-Washington Consensus,there are various aid discourses,motives and the intervention logics.This paper explores the Western aid through a critical review to the history and the contemporary development of "aid".It argues,despite these changes,the fundamental logic of aid,the logic of "catching up",has not been changed.The related economic and political interventions,such as the aid conditionalities,are all working for this logic,and have caused a lot of criticisms.Aid has not been very successful within the changing agendas.While the foreign aid is moving from intervention to cooperation,to make a more effective "aid",the traditional donors may learn lessons from the South-South relations.

International aid,ah, cays concerned as the Western aid, has been in decades＇ development after the Second World War. From the Post -colonial time to the era of globalisation, from Washington Consensus to the Post -Washington Consensus, there are various aid discourses, motives and the intervention logics. This paper explores the Western aid through a critical review to the history and the contemporary development of ＂aid＂. It argues, despite these changes, the fundamental logic of aid, the logic of ＂catching up＂, has not been changed. The related economic and political interventions,such as the aid conditionalities, are all working for this logic, and have caused a lot of criticisms. Aid has not been very successful within the changing agendas. While the foreign aid is moving from intervention to cooperation ,to make a more effective ＂aid＂ ,the traditional donors may learn lessons from the South -South relations.