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Emergency Responses Under COVID-19: Development Assistance, ‘Structural Violence’, and ‘Interpretive Labour’ in Samoa

Author

Listed:
  • Peter Blunt
  • Cecilia Escobar
  • Vlassis Missos

Abstract

Data gathered in Samoa before and after the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic on 11 March 2020 compare and contrast the nature and extent of ‘structural violence’ perpetrated by ‘egoistic’ bilateral development assistance. Despite much higher risks and costs to aid recipients than under normal circumstances, during the pandemic, donor control in ‘increasingly detailed and encompassing ways’ and donor use of ‘technical discourse’ to conceal ‘hidden purposes of bureaucratic power or dominance’ both increased significantly. Pandemic-induced opportunistic abandonments by donor governments of neoliberal policy principles did not ameliorate such structural violence. Individual differences among donor officials affected how control was exercised and whether host-government ‘ownership’ and ‘leadership’ of development assistance was flouted peremptorily, or denied more subtly and politely (with ‘warm regards’); and they influenced the volume and complexity of ‘interpretive labour’ required of resistance. But donor domination and control were undiminished by any of this. ‘Bullshit’ jobs and the blind allegiance of their (donor) incumbents were crucial to the realisation of such ends. The findings reconfirm the embeddedness of the neoliberal order and shed light on the character of its deep-seated bureaucratic resistance to change. JEL: F35, F54, F55, O19, O20, O22, P48

Suggested Citation

  • Peter Blunt & Cecilia Escobar & Vlassis Missos, 2025. "Emergency Responses Under COVID-19: Development Assistance, ‘Structural Violence’, and ‘Interpretive Labour’ in Samoa," Journal of Interdisciplinary Economics, , vol. 37(1), pages 69-111, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:jinter:v:37:y:2025:i:1:p:69-111
    DOI: 10.1177/02601079221121903
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • F35 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - Foreign Aid
    • F54 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - Colonialism; Imperialism; Postcolonialism
    • F55 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - International Institutional Arrangements
    • O19 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - International Linkages to Development; Role of International Organizations
    • O20 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Development Planning and Policy - - - General
    • O22 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Development Planning and Policy - - - Project Analysis
    • P48 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Other Economic Systems - - - Legal Institutions; Property Rights; Natural Resources; Energy; Environment; Regional Studies

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