A Club of the Rich to Help the Poor? The OECD, “Development”, and the Hegemony of Donor Countries

Abstract

Contrary to what a cursory review of the development literature would suggest, this chapter argues that the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) — often dubbed the “club of the rich” — was an important actor in the emerging international field of development aid that has unduly been neglected in scholarly research. During the 1960s in particular, the OECD was highly influential and, one could argue, at least as important as other international organizations such as the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) or the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). But although OECD figures such as official development assistance (ODA) are used in most studies dealing with development and its Development Assistance Committee (DAC) is mentioned abundantly, the OECD’s work on development cooperation has not received much attention in historical or political science literature. The literature is limited to several accounts by former OECD staff on the OECD’s development work, which although an informative and essential source of information is outdated and partly apologetic;1 and to several articles or book chapters from political science authors on aspects of OEEC development work and on the role of the DAC, focusing particularly on the period since the late 1980s.2