Abstract

National development experts (NDEs) play unique roles as knowledge brokers, translators and gatekeepers between governments, intended beneficiaries and donors on various development policies and practices. Due to their local contextual knowledge, they influence development activities at national levels by engaging in formulation and implementation of development policies. However, discussion of their motivations and roles has been particularly limited in the existing development literature. Drawing on 25 semi-structured interviews with the local staff of donor agencies and non-governmental organisations, independent consultants, civil servants and academics in Ghana, this article presents findings on their motivations and roles within Ghana’s development landscape. We argue that while the motivations and roles of NDEs are similar in many ways to those of Western development experts, except their contextual understanding of national development issues, their contributions to development are so far excluded within the development literature. This article contributes to the emerging aid ethnography literature by providing a more comprehensive perspective on NDEs and deepens the scholarship by asking whether the exclusion of this group is a deliberate choice or unintended mistake. The article further highlights the perspectives of NDEs on their engagement with foreign experts and its implications for national development and future research.

摘要

国家发展专家 (NDE) 在政府、预期受益者和捐助者之间在各种发展政策和实践方面扮演着知识经纪人、翻译者和看门人的独特角色。由于他们对当地情况的了解，他们通过参与发展政策的制定和实施来影响国家层面的发展活动。然而，在现有的发展文献中，对它们的动机和作用的讨论特别有限。本文利用对加纳捐助机构和非政府组织的当地工作人员、独立顾问、公务员和学者的 25 次半结构化访谈，介绍了他们在加纳发展环境中的动机和作用的调查结果。我们认为，虽然濒死体验者的动机和作用在许多方面与西方发展专家的相似，除了他们对国家发展问题的背景理解之外，他们对发展的贡献迄今为止被排除在发展文献中。本文通过提供关于濒死体验的更全面的视角来为新兴的援助民族志文献做出贡献，并通过询问排除该群体是有意选择还是无意错误来深化学术研究。本文进一步强调了濒死体验者在与外国专家交往方面的观点及其对国家发展和未来研究的影响。迄今为止，他们对发展的贡献被排除在发展文献之外。本文通过提供关于濒死体验的更全面的视角来为新兴的援助民族志文献做出贡献，并通过询问排除该群体是有意选择还是无意错误来深化学术研究。本文进一步强调了濒死体验者在与外国专家交往方面的观点及其对国家发展和未来研究的影响。迄今为止，他们对发展的贡献被排除在发展文献之外。本文通过提供关于濒死体验的更全面的视角来为新兴的援助民族志文献做出贡献，并通过询问排除该群体是有意选择还是无意错误来深化学术研究。本文进一步强调了濒死体验者在与外国专家交往方面的观点及其对国家发展和未来研究的影响。