International Development Buzzwords: Understanding Their Use Among Donors, NGOs, and Academics
International Development Buzzwords: Understanding Their Use Among Donors, NGOs, and Academics
复制标题
DOI：
10.1080/00220388.2020.1790532
复制
发表时间：
2020-07-16
影响因子：
2.9
通讯作者：
Brass, Jennifer N.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Schnable, Allison;DeMattee, Anthony;Brass, Jennifer N.
国际发展领域的学者和从业者经常注意到“发展热词”的使用：这些术语代表了该领域的热门话题。热词描述了一个发展问题，并暗示了可能的解决方案的要素。本文分析了这些词汇在发展话语中的流行程度，探究在捐赠者、主要非政府组织（NGO）或学者中，谁最早采用热词且使用频率最高。我们还分析了这些行为主体如何使用热词——热词是代表新的理念，还是本质上对旧概念进行重新包装。文章比较了1990年以来发表的三类文本中热词的流行情况：关于非政府组织的社会科学期刊文章；世界银行年度报告；以及孟加拉乡村进步委员会（BRAC）、救助儿童会和世界宣明会的年度报告。通过主题建模和关键词搜索，我们追踪了“生殖健康”“性别”“参与式发展”和“问责制”等术语在这些文献中的兴衰。我们发现了反对“捐赠者驱动的发展”的启发性证据：热词首先出现在学术文献和非政府组织的年度报告中，其次是世界银行。我们还发现有证据表明国际会议和突发的健康危机影响热词的使用。我们得出结论，热词的功能和命运各不相同，有些失去了优先级，有些失去了实质内容，还有一些作为多义概念持续存在。
Scholars and practitioners of international development often note the use of 'development buzzwords': terms that represent hot topics in the field. Buzzwords characterise a development issue and imply elements of possible solutions. This article analyses the prevalence of these words in development discourse, asking who among donors, major nongovernmental organisations (NGOs), or academics adopts buzzwords earliest and uses them the most. We also analyse how these actors use buzzwords-whether buzzwords represent new ideas or essentially repackage old concepts. The article compares the prevalence of buzzwords among three bodies of text published since 1990: social science journal articles on NGOs; World Bank annual reports; and the annual reports of BRAC, Save the Children, and World Vision. Using topic modelling and keyword searches, we trace how the terms 'reproductive health, gender, participatory development, and accountability' ebbed and flowed over these literatures. We find suggestive evidence against 'donor-driven development': buzzwords appear first in academic literature and the annual reports of NGOs, followed by tct 2he World Bank. We also find evidence that international conferences and emergent health crises influence buzzword use. We conclude that buzzwords' function and fates vary, with some losing priority, others losing substance, and yet others persisting as multivalent concepts.