THE SPECIAL ISSUE ARTICLES CONTRIBUTORS ABOUT THE JOURNAL
Nathalie Karagiannis, Avoiding Responsibility: The Politics and Discourse of European Development Policy, London: Pluto Press, 2004. ISBN 0 7453 2189 5, pp208. Natalie Karagiannis claims that pluralism is the way forward for the European community and a re-conceptualisation is needed of three central concepts: "efficiency", "responsibility" and "giving" in order to come to terms with the contractual relationships between the ACP-countries and Europe. She also emphasises the necessity of creating a stronger sense of a European community to avoid the flight of responsibility by hiding behind a, by the Europeans, perceived unstoppable "globalisation"; the depicturing of development as a domestic matter and the shifting of responsibility towards the ACP countries (p.141). By using the three concepts to formulate a historical account of how European development policy has changed over the post-colonial time, Karagiannis takes the reader on a journey from a strong awareness of colonialism with a strong sense of responsibility to a present day neglect of that responsibility and suggestion that the ACP-countries should themselves take responsibility for their own fate. Karagiannis suggests introducing social and political theorising into studies of development to open up a political discussion about development policies where Europe would be forced to confront its colonial past and accept the role of responsibility. Political and social theory would be helpful because it has the potential to contextualize ethical questions surrounding development and to investigate the features of development discourse by putting concepts such as "rationality" and "giving" in a broader political and social context (p.2). For Karagiannis, "efficiency" is a central problematic concept because it is rarely questioned and has become the foremost goal of development policy and strongly suggests that the relationship between Europe and the ACP-countries is one mainly coloured by market capitalism (p.141). If this indeed is true we must move towards an explicit acknowledgement of responsibility and embrace the responsibility as solidarity and giving up the present development discourse that take the form of a regime of justification (p. 23). Karagiannis brings forth an important issue and makes a strong case for the necessity of bringing social and political theory into development discussions and understandings of the European - ACP relationship. The book performs an important task, bringing up the often-neglected topic of the characteristics of the underlying philosophical stances of development policies. Moreover Karagiannis operationalises some of the key concepts of the discourse today and stresses the importance of opening up a debate about these issues in order to come to terms with un-equality and neo-colonialism. She gives a clear picture, drawing heavily upon post-structuralism, of how post-colonial European politics have undergone major changes in the dealings with development issues. Furthermore, Karagiannis makes the topic more comprehensible by giving a historical outline that facilitates the reading of the present discourse. It also puts the topic into both political and social context that allows the reader to better grasp the shifting features of the development discourse. The usefulness of the suggestions made are in practical terms very small but as a awareness-raiser and norm-shaper the book might serve its purpose and create a new European debate on the topic that actually could result in a strengthening of the "community" Karagiannis is in search for (see ex. p. 140). In making these suggestions Karagiannis uses a discourse analysis method, as brought forward by Derrida, Laclau, Mouffe and Butler, that insists on difference and non-fixity (p. 6) which means that in accordance with discourse analysis practice there is no central fixation on the author as the primary subject of inquiry and other sources of meaning are investigated (such as the concepts explored and re-conceptualised by Karagiannis). She argues for an understanding of the development discourse as coming from a European "community" where we must re-think the uses of terms such as "efficiency" and "responsibility". The discourse is here understood, by Karagiannis, as a whole that changes across time trough its ambiguities, richness and critique (p.6). The use of discourse analysis in its most abstract form is perhaps the greatest weakness of the book; the argument becomes un-accessible and at times confusingly abstract even though the author structures the discussion well. Discourse analysis can certainly be useful especially when speaking about "community" and the application and explanation of changing concepts but the question is whether it is the most effective way of suggesting policy changes, which ultimately is what Karagiannis is aiming at. The philosophical ambition of the book is obvious from page one and by drawing upon a philosophical legacy such as Derrida and Laclau she constructs an interesting conceptualisation but application seems remote. The important and insightful conceptual suggestions made by Karagiannis are somewhat lost in methodology and does not reach out to the reader as if she would have had a more easily accessible structure of logic and does not transcend into the powerful strike against European cowardice and avoidance of responsibility towards the ACP- countries as it as an argument should be. Pernilla Heed
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