ABSTRACT

This essay analyses the shifting rationales of official British aid policy between the sterling crisis of the late 1940s and the oil crisis of 1973-74. In spite of changes during the transition from the colonial empire to independent states at the time, the period shows considerable continuities in Britain’s aid policy, conceptions of development, and approaches to external economic and financial relations. In the immediate post-war period, development aid was closely connected to colonial development policy and imperial economy-building. In the late 1950s, however, British aid policy separated from colonial development as the result of a crisis of both development finance and the imperial bond. During the 1960s, the Overseas Development Ministry formulated a dedicated aid policy geared towards development in independent post-colonies. Yet, aid was ultimately an integral part of Britain’s economic management in a wider world. In this setting, while the hierarchical organisation of aid for imperial development came to a close, official British aid policy still sought to align overseas aid to the requirements of Britain’s external economic and financial relations, especially during economic crises. The argument about the contextual formation of aid policy has relevance beyond the period under review.

摘要

本文分析了 20 世纪 40 年代末的英镑危机和 1973-74 年间的石油危机之间英国官方援助政策的转变。尽管英国在从殖民帝国向独立国家的转型过程中发生了一些变化，但这一时期英国的援助政策、发展理念以及对外经济和金融关系的方针仍显示出相当大的连续性。在战后初期，发展援助与殖民发展政策和帝国经济建设密切相关。然而，在 20 世纪 50 年代末，由于发展金融和帝国债券危机，英国的援助政策与殖民发展脱节。20世纪60年代，海外发展部制定了专门针对独立后殖民地发展的援助政策。然而，援助最终成为英国在更广阔的世界中进行经济管理的一个组成部分。在这种背景下，虽然帝国发展援助的等级组织已经结束，但英国官方援助政策仍然寻求使海外援助符合英国对外经济和金融关系的要求，特别是在经济危机期间。关于援助政策的背景形成的争论在审查期间之外仍然具有相关性。