Doing ‘Us-Them’ differently: the identity work of frontline aid bureaucrats in translating aid effectiveness policy rhetoric into practice

Abstract

ABSTRACT Bilateral aid agencies often face implementation challenges in internal efforts to address long-standing aid fragmentation and effectiveness issues. This article introduces the organizational identity concept to understand better these challenges by examining how Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) frontline staff understand their role and organizational goals in light of shifting demands to coordinate and align Swedish government agencies’ (SGA) aid engagements. SGAs implement 10-15% of Swedish bilateral aid annually. A recent government strategy prioritizes strengthening partner countries’ public institutions and partnerships in line with the Agenda 2030 for sustainable development. Analysis of interviews and focus group data reveals a general shift among bureaucrats beyond the traditional us-them funder identity, to embrace a range of other identity orientations in the Sida-SGA relationship. The various orientations reflected Sida frontline bureaucrats’ diverse interpretations of their individual authority and socialized sense-making of ambivalent organizational changes, as they grapple with questions of ‘Who we should be?’ and ‘What we should do?’ on the frontline. The study provides a fine-grained view of the essential attitudes, skills and behavior on the frontline that influence aid relationships and the implementation of aid effectiveness principles, adding nuance to the existing aid effectiveness literature.