Devolution, nation-building and development assistance : a case study of the Welsh Government's Wales for Africa Programme

• Main Author: Mulready, Kathleen
• Published: Cardiff University 2017
• Subjects: G Geography (General)
• Online Access: https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.742841

This study explores Wales for Africa, the Welsh Government’s international development programme. It particularly considers the issues of political decentralisation, and participation in development assistance, on the making of national identity in contemporary Wales. Using a case study methodology, and a conceptual framework of the sub-state and the citizen as development actor, it explores how notions of Welsh subjectivity are tied to iterations of national identity and civic value, constructed around the concept of sustainable development, and ideas of mutual benefit and reciprocity in international development. It focuses specifically on community-based development organisations linked with partner organisations in sub-Saharan Africa. Although the potential benefits of citizen-led development initiatives to right-based approaches are recognised, little attention has previously been paid to the role of international development to sub-state nation-building. The study seeks to address this gap. Situated within the field of interpretive policy analysis, the thesis adopts a context sensitive approach focussed on how a political narrative around nationhood and civic value has been constructed around Wales’ development activities as a symbol of an alternative nation. Beginning with political devolution, the timeframe of the study ends at October 2016. The research involved extensive documentary analysis of policy related material, participant observation at policy and international events, the analysis of semi-structured interviews with interviewees from the public and third sector, and from participants in community-based development organisations. Data from focus groups and participant observation at a development project in Uganda was also scrutinised. By approaching both the sub-state and the citizen as development actors, the study brings together the professional knowledge of policy-makers together with the experience of citizens. The study provides a number of original contributions to knowledge. This is achieved by presenting an interpretive analysis of policy dynamics in a context where attention is largely absent in academic literature. The research also provides a broader contribution to understandings of the policy-making process by presenting an innovative explanation of how representation and interpretation may shape the design and consequences of policy.