Abstract
ABSTRACT This essay analyses the shifting rationales of official British aid policy between the sterling crisis of the late 1940s and the oil crisis of 1973-74. In spite of changes during the transition from the colonial empire to independent states at the time, the period shows considerable continuities in Britain’s aid policy, conceptions of development, and approaches to external economic and financial relations. In the immediate post-war period, development aid was closely connected to colonial development policy and imperial economy-building. In the late 1950s, however, British aid policy separated from colonial development as the result of a crisis of both development finance and the imperial bond. During the 1960s, the Overseas Development Ministry formulated a dedicated aid policy geared towards development in independent post-colonies. Yet, aid was ultimately an integral part of Britain’s economic management in a wider world. In this setting, while the hierarchical organisation of aid for imperial development came to a close, official British aid policy still sought to align overseas aid to the requirements of Britain’s external economic and financial relations, especially during economic crises. The argument about the contextual formation of aid policy has relevance beyond the period under review.
Published Version
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