1. B. Hawa Kombian, s3023036
Lecturer Relinde Reiffers
Anthropology in International Humanitarian Action
25 January 2016
Blinders of Development Aid: The Search for Legitimacy in Western Perspectives
What are the blinders to development aid? The Western development rhetoric is bound
by ideas of coloniality – a concept which embeds the ideological and institutional shackles of
colonialism into the codes and norms, values and practices of former colonies. The more
fundamental question is to ask where “Western development” gains its legitimacy to infringe
upon and influence the priorities and structure of life in emerging economies.
In this paper I will employ a critical anthropological lens to understand how the
humanitarian and development approaches of local Western, primarily American, aid
organizations function nationally. This perspective hopes to create a platform to assess the
legitimacy of undertaking international projects of similar scope and frame.
The case studies will identify and outline a timeline of crises moving from 2005 until
present day, 2016. Two American examples will be used to book-end the analysis, with an
international case as a mid-point. This approach will enable the reader to track a trajectory of
aid system protocols and behaviours.
The trifecta of the aid paradigm has been the ability to wield power, means and
expertise. The power narrative extends back throughout history and as evidenced by colonial
endeavours, points to the importance of political interests and goals in determining state
activity, behaviour and intervention. Aid is frequently a tool of such foreign policy endeavours,
be they military, economic or territorial objectives. Lewis and Mosse (2006) describe the
ordered principle in approaches towards development. They outline how a prevailing sense of
Western governmentality extends into foreign policy, utilizing development as a functional and
effective tool. Means are directly related to many of these political goals and describe the
ability to not only access but also provide essential resources which can “improve” the standard
of living conditions. Lastly, expertise speaks to the level and caliber of information and
technology which Western states and organizations can utilize to successfully implement and
operationalize their means and resources.
Organizations such as the United States Agency for International Development (USAID),
perfectly demonstrates this philosophy in the $22.3 billion requested to operate in 2016
(means), scope of activities (expertise) and it’s overarching foreign policy mandate (power) :
“The United States is safer and stronger when fewer people face destitution, when our
trading partners are flourishing, when nations around the world can withstand crisis, and when
societies are freer, more democratic, and more inclusive, protecting the basic rights and human
dignity of all citizens.” (USAID, 2016)
That’s all well and good, but where should the international community credibility from
similar operating bodies? Beyond the one-sided media reports and external communications

2. efforts of these organizations there should be a measure of accountability of how these states
and communities approach their own public emergencies.
In developing this assessment, three case studies will be reviewed from 2005-2016.
Hurricane Katrina (US, 2005) and the Flint Water Contamination (US, 2016) will be assessed
from a “national” disaster response perspective, while the Haiti earthquake (Haiti, 2010) will
serve as the international comparator. Anthropologically, the inner-working of the Western aid
system can be investigated to optimise inherent deficiencies for the improvement of overall
system capacities and disaster response for the global community.
Haiti Earthquake (2010)
In the Haiti documentary, “Fatal Assistance”, local filmmaker Raoul Peck (2013) takes a
scathing view of the struggle to rebuild Haiti, on international terms. The film highlights the
overwhelming show of international interest in the reconstruction of the small island nation
following the 2010 earthquake. While some show an arguably misguided outpour of support,
others could be described as being entrepreneurially manipulative and organizationally self-
seeking based upon actions and behaviours on the ground. From corporations attempting to
sell their ventures as humanitarian and economic supports to NGOs flooding local communities
with disjointed and overlapping activities, the environment was fraught with actors who
displayed a poor understanding of the needs and how to best address them.
Haiti accurately describes the prevailing aid narrative of “development at all costs”.
There is no argument as to the fact that Haiti required support and facilitation to meet the
needs of its population – but with the blinders of aid it becomes easy to lose focus of the bigger
picture of an existing and historic society, culture and economy, in place of limited
organizational goals and quick-wins.
In an interview with IndieWire Blog (Obenson, 2014), Peck muses that not only Haiti, but
many African countries and recipients of so-called international development aid have little to
show for it in a tangible and sustainable measure.
Following years of international development, Haiti was left asking itself the following
questions: was aid really effective, collaborative or sustainable? Often, NGOs had inadequately
determined the relevance of their projects to the context of the local communities they were
attempting to help. In this manner effectiveness was a construct of institutional goals and not
of the impact or satisfaction of the local population. There was little coordination between NGO
bodies themselves given the overlap of activities for the sake of being an active and involved
partner. The international community also did little to engage or coordinate with the
government, who ultimately manage much of the capacity and operations of essential services.
This ultimately plays on the lack of sustainability as there is little investment in local capacity
building or alignment with existing structures to ensure interventions create a wider impact
(Peck, 2013).
This then begs the question of why Western countries feel an inherent need to impose
their prescriptions for aid on developing countries despite the aforementioned challenges and
patterns of behaviour.
Nelson Maldonado-Torres draws the line between colonialism as the acts which
established regional political and economic power on foreign territories and coloniality as the
long-standing and held outcomes and rhetoric of colonialism which shape the daily realities and

3. narratives for the land and peoples subjected to it (Ndlovu-Gatsheni, 2015). Walter Mignolo
(2005) developed this further to describe coloniality as “an embedded logic that enforces
control, domination, and exploitation disguised in the language of salvation, progress,
modernization, and being good for everyone” (p. 6)
Perhaps it is this existing notion of coloniality which perpetuates the dynamic wherein
developing nations succumb to the domination of “embedded” Western rhetoric of the path
towards improved quality of life and society. The irony is that where Western governments tout
the knowledge, expertise and deliverance of development systems, their own nation states
succumb to humanitarian crises of their own making.
Hurricane Katrina (2005)
While USAID literally invests billions internationally, the larger government still suffers
stark failings as evidenced by Hurricane Katrina. The states of Louisiana, Mississippi and
Alabama and particularly the city of New Orleans were pummelled by a category 5 hurricane in
2005. Hundreds of thousands of people were displaced from their homes and left at the mercy
delayed state and federal government responses (Hurricane Katrina, 2009).
The federal government commissioned an investigation into the lackluster response in
the report “A Failure of Initiative” (Select Bipartisan Committee, 2006). The findings recount
that the levels of disaster preparedness and emergency response were in shambles at all levels
of government. The report explicitly reviews the fault and inadequacy of the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA) in crises response.
There were some clear structural discrepancies in the collective response structure from
the variety of actors who should be held accountable. Primarily, these are capacity,
preparedness and collaboration.
The review found that internally, government systems suffered from a lack of clarity on
the mandated role and responsibilities of FEMA. To some it was a national “fire and rescue
team”, instead of emergency responders. Conversely, FEMA was not mandated or resourced to
be a “first responder” in emergencies, further confusing their role and purpose. FEMA’s
operational preparedness, learning and accountability mechanisms was severely questioned in
light of the fact that in 2004 the organization had participated in the “Hurricane Pam”
simulation exercise, which almost mirrored the effect of Hurricane Katrina. However, based on
the evidence of their real-life response, this training and preparation process must be
questioned in its effectiveness. Lastly it was found that state governments did not know or have
access to the proper channels for requesting FEMA for support during disasters. FEMA and
State protocols were not well aligned or responsive enough to the speed demanded in
emergency situations. This inadequacy resulted in neglect of the affected communities in the
face of mass displacement and loss of life. (Select Bipartisan Committee, 2006).
Further exacerbating the organizational issues, the larger system ignored the social
context of the affected populations and in particular the devastated city of New Orleans. At the
time the city had a poverty rate of 30% and was 67% African-American (Hurricane Katrina,
2009). The hurricane and the delayed response exacerbated social conditions of poverty and
played a direct role in the community’s ability to cope and rebuild.

4. Flint, Michigan Water Crisis (2016)
Flash forward 10 years and one could hope that following national and international aid
failings, the American system would be better prepared to meet the needs of populations in
crisis. The city of Flint, Michigan is facing a public health crises due to lead contaminated
drinking water, an issue which has affected 100,000 people over since mid-2014. This has
happened as a result of switching water sources as a cost-cutting measure. Lead ingestion has
harmful and irreversible effects, including cognitive development which especially affects
children (Rifai, 2016).
This unfortunate case again points to cracks in the foundation of development and aid
responders and the system which holds responsibility for public welfare. We see overarching
issues in effectiveness and accountability come into the fold. The inadequate response has seen
the local government call a state of emergency in early 2016 so that FEMA is only now sending
in observers to understand the situation on the ground ahead of the provision of an aid
response. Questions of accountability arise given that the Flint stopped deriving water from
Lake Huron, via Detroit, in favour of their local Flint River water source, due to increased rates.
However, the local water source reacted with the material in pipes to release lead into the
water. Despite people getting sick, Michigan’s Department of Environmental Quality and the
Environment Protection Agency were reportedly negligent in their safety testing standards and
did little to warn the public of the safety issues of contaminated water. The crises has
culminated to the point that there is now a class action lawsuit against the Michigan State
Governor. (Rifai, 2016). Between mid-2014 until late 2015, the lead levels in the water were
undetected, until the city finally switched back to the safer, Detroit/Lake Huron drinking supply.
In the interim the city is providing free lead filters for households but the extent towards which
the public trust this intervention source in light of the damage already done, points to the need
for a more durable solution and investment in the safety and livelihood of this community.
Similar to New Orleans, Flint is community which has struggled economically due to the
deindustrialization of the car manufacturing industry, resulting in increased levels of
unemployment and crime, often precursors to poverty. In the last year car manufacturer,
General Motors had even reportedly closed their local engine factor due to rusting from the
local water source (Walters, 2015).
Research Method Solutions
How can anthropology and its reflective and corrective understanding of aid and
development processes contribute to better understanding of what affected populations need?
I believe that through a focus on communities of practice, social dimensions and alternative
knowledge sources, anthropology can overcome the repetitious challenges describes above.
A community of practice simply engages in accountability and “lessons-learned” at a
scale which recognizes institutional biases and gaps and highlights successful approaches to
move forward in a manner which respects strategies of effect. This involves a variety of players
coming together to acknowledge and share their different approaches and to build upon new
strategies and paradigms of thinking. While at the international level the UN convenes Inter-
Agency Standing Committees on various thematic areas, these are largely headed by large
international NGOs which are very much grounded in a Western frame of thinking about
development and aid. The US specific examples illustrate that at the national level, there can

5. and should be horizontal knowledge sharing across different regions as well as a vertical
cohesiveness between different levels of authority.
This leads to the next point on weaving the social vulnerabilities of a community into
disaster response. Doug Henry (2005) calls out the importance of examining and understanding
pre-disaster vulnerabilities in communities to better recognize the array and extent of factors
affecting their ability to be resilient. These vulnerabilities include environmental, social and
economic factors which shape the daily activities, access and acceptability of aid to particular
communities. This insight lends itself towards informed and relevant humanitarian and
development. In Western communities which appear homogenous this can be easily
overlooked and frames aid for approaching international and complex communities with the
same approach.
Finally, new and alternative approaches to information involve two seemingly disparate
frames of understanding. On the one hand, the topic of de-coloniality of knowledge seeks for
local communities to be empowered to reclaim the legitimacy of local culture and traditions as
a frame for social constructs.
This modality of understanding places greater significance on grassroots movements
towards development. While this may never become the norm in aid and development work,
anthropology can help us establish an equilibrium between the voices of power and influence.
Conversely, the digital revolution and technology has created a new space for people
and communities to share and conceptualize their reality. The internet and social media has
leveraged platforms which allow for people to bring subcultures to a visible scale and is an
alternate means for anthropologists to explore and triangulate cultural meaning. Horst and
Miller (2012) describe how anthropology doesn’t put lines or importance on mediums of
communication and so digital connections, interaction and meaning must be identified to
enhance our holistic conception of societies.
Anthropology provides a unique and dedicated lens, not only for reflection, but just as
importantly, self-reflection. The discipline does well to hold up levels of accountability to
various practices, and humanitarian intervention is no exemption. In this field, wrought with a
variety of actors, needs and motivations, it is imperative to measure, assess and determine the
success of our activities, qualitatively and quantitatively.
We’re provided a unique perspective when addressing humanitarian challenges in
Western contexts and in developing regions. This distinction is important because it questions
the framing of legitimacy of organizations dominated by the Western ideologies and
development frames to operate in the international space. While political power and
dominance are tied to ability to control resources, the above analysis highlights the lacking of
expertise in knowledge and technology which renders the practice inadequate to meet the
needs of affected populations.
The selected cases, the 2005 Hurricane Katrina (US), 2010 Haiti earthquake (Haiti) and
the 2016 Flint Water Crisis (US), show that at a longitudinal scale, there are consistent
shortcomings at the “developed” and “developing” levels. Some of these core issues stem from
effectiveness, preparedness, capacity, accountability and collaboration and when pooled
together they guarantee unsustainability as a product.

6. Anthropology can meet these ongoing challenges by employing more robust internal
and external scopes of understanding. Communities of practice which generate and share
lessons learned from failure are an important starting mechanism. Further, the humanitarian
environment needs to pay more dedication to the historical social contexts within communities
to enhance local design response. Alongside this entails an appreciation and understanding of
local sources of knowledge and social construction, consideration of which have the power to
spur or spurn interventions. Lastly, the digital space is also forming a new information source
for anthropologists to tap into the emerging social realities of communities around the world.

7. References
Henry, D. (2005). Anthropological Contributions to the Study of Disasters. In D. McEntire and W.
Blanchard Editor (eds)., Disciplines, Disasters and Emergency Management: The
Convergence and Divergence of Concepts, Issues and Trends From the Research
Literature. Emittsburg, Maryland: Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Horst, H.A., & Miller, D. (2012). Digital Anthropology. London/New York: Berg
Hurricane Katrina. (2009). History.com. Retrieved from
http://www.history.com/topics/hurricane-katrina
Lewis, D., & Mosse, D. (2006). Encountering Order and Disjuncture: Contemporary
Anthropological Perspectives on the Organization of Development. Oxford Development
Studies, 34(1), 1-13
Obenson, T. A. (2014, February 28). Raoul Peck's 'Fatal Assistance' Open Today For A 1-Week
Run Exclusively At Lincoln Center (NYC). IndieWire Blog. Retrieved from
http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/raoul-pecks-fatal-assistance-gets-1-week-
run-exclusively-at-lincoln-center-starting-this-friday
Mignolo, W. (2005). The idea of Latin America (Blackwell manifestos; Blackwell manifestos).
Oxford: Blackwell.
Ndlovu-Gatsheni, S. J. (2015). Decoloniality as the Future of Africa. History Compass, 13(10),
485-496. doi:10.1111/hic3.12264
Peck, R. (Director). (2013). Fatal Assistance [Documentary]. Haiti
Rifai, R. (2016, January 16). Federal emergency declared in Flint over toxic water. Al Jazeera.
Retrieved from http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/01/michigan-state-sued-flint-
toxic-water-disaster-160115131132739.html
Select Bipartisan Committee to Investigate the Preparation for and Response to Hurricane
Katrina. (2006). A Failure of Initiative. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
USAID. (2016). Mission, Vision and Values. Retrieved from https://www.usaid.gov/who-we-
are/mission-vision-values
Walters, J. (2015, December 15). Flint mayor declares 'manmade disaster' over lead-tainted
water supply. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/us-
news/2015/dec/15/michigan-mayor-declares-manmade-disaster-lead-tainted-water-
supply