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Technical Diplomacy or Rendering Technical? Examining Triangular Cooperation in International Development

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  • R. C. Sudheesh

Abstract

This article examines Triangular Cooperation, which is garnering popularity in the development sector and is purportedly devoid of the old hierarchies associated with international development. The article locates this emerging mode of cooperation in the context of discussions on decolonisation and turns attention to the need to update the registers used to critique international development. Through a critical discourse analysis of an array of project documents and a reflexive account of the author's experiences in the aid sector, it explores the subtle forms of power that play out when ‘pivotal’, ‘beneficiary’ and ‘facilitating’ partners enter a project. The article argues that such an enquiry helps nuance our examination of old hierarchies in contemporary times. It thereby calls for renewed attention to Triangular Cooperation in critical development studies that is currently preoccupied with South–South Cooperation.

Suggested Citation

  • R. C. Sudheesh, 2025. "Technical Diplomacy or Rendering Technical? Examining Triangular Cooperation in International Development," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 37(6), pages 1295-1306, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:jintdv:v:37:y:2025:i:6:p:1295-1306
    DOI: 10.1002/jid.70008
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Cox, Robert W., 1979. "Ideologies and the New International Economic Order: reflections on some recent literature," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 33(2), pages 257-302, April.
    2. Nikita Sud & Diego Sánchez‐Ancochea, 2022. "Southern Discomfort: Interrogating the Category of the Global South," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 53(6), pages 1123-1150, November.
    3. José Antonio Alonso & Guillermo Santander, 2022. "Triangular Cooperation: Change or Continuity?," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 34(1), pages 248-271, February.
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