Home About Browse Search
Svenska


Lund, John, 2017. Exegesis of development bureaucracy : from text to action at Sida. Second cycle, A2E. Uppsala: SLU, Dept. of Urban and Rural Development

[img]
Preview
PDF
474kB

Abstract

The Swedish International Development Agency (Sida) is a governmental agency with the purpose to execute the Swedish international development aid. Sida plays a relatively large role in the international development scene and the governmental officials that work at Sida are representatives for the Swedish development politics. At the same time, the officials that supervise the foreign aid are individuals and thus to a degree autonomous subjects. This paper aims to explore the relation between formal bureaucratic space and subjective agency of these officials at the department for innovations and partnerships (PARTNER) at Sida. By doing extensive participatory observations, both as an intern and as an employee at the unit for research cooperation (FORSK) together with interviews and text analysis, this relation has been analysed. The analysis has been conducted with the help of Bourdieu’s theoretical framework concerning social fields and capitals together with Benford and Snow’s theoretical framework regarding collective action frames. The conclusion is that even though there are numerous layers of policies and guidelines to follow when working as a government official at Sida, the space for subjective agency is extensive. This space is instead ruled by unofficial, socially determined policies, which are a product as well as a producer of an office solidarity. This could very well be the result of a strong sense of togetherness sprung out of a somewhat exposed position and a niched workspace. Together the official and the unofficial guidelines create a social landscape which could help hold together and motivate the agency.

Main title:Exegesis of development bureaucracy
Subtitle:from text to action at Sida
Authors:Lund, John
Supervisor:Bartholdson, Örjan
Examiner:Hansen, Kjell
Series:UNSPECIFIED
Volume/Sequential designation:UNSPECIFIED
Year of Publication:2017
Level and depth descriptor:Second cycle, A2E
Student's programme affiliation:NY007 Agriculture Programme - Rural Development 270 HEC
Supervising department:(NL, NJ) > Dept. of Urban and Rural Development
(LTJ, LTV) > Dept. of Urban and Rural Development
Keywords:Swedish development aid, Sida, bureaucracy, policy, bureaucratic field, frames, Department for partnership and innovation
URN:NBN:urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-s-6414
Permanent URL:
http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-s-6414
Language:English
Deposited On:31 May 2017 09:29
Metadata Last Modified:31 May 2017 09:29

Repository Staff Only: item control page