16:50 - 18:30
P5-S128
Room: 1A.12
Chair/s:
Fabrizio Gilardi
Discussant/s:
Santiago Quintero
Development expertise: Essential or expendable? Comparing interactions between knowledge and experience in German and Norwegian foreign aid bureaucracies
P5-S128-2
Presented by: Heiner Janus, Daniel Esser
Heiner Janus 1Daniel Esser 2
1 German Institute of Development Sustainability (IDOS)
2 American University
We investigate the focus and status of development expertise in two national aid administrations based on a measurable conceptualisation of such expertise as a function of knowledge and experience. We apply this definition to qualitative data from 58 randomly selected interviews at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad). We find that both organisations reference similar knowledge sets and scopes of experience. However, BMZ and Norad staff exhibit different appreciations of substantive knowledge and individual experience rooted in distinct organisational objectives and norms. At BMZ, substantive knowledge is expendable but individual experience is considered non-substitutable, and expertise focusses on navigating political priorities. At Norad, substantive knowledge is a condition for career advancement; experience ideally leverages such knowledge, jointly constituting expertise. These findings have implications for donor agencies’ policy autonomy, knowledge management, and organisational continuity amid changing foreign aid dynamics.
Keywords: Development expertise, knowledge management, foreign aid bureaucracies, development politics

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