The Commonwealth, the Balance of Payments and the Politics of International Poverty: British Aid Policy, 1958-1971

TY - JOUR

T1 - The Commonwealth, the Balance of Payments and the Politics of International Poverty

T2 - British Aid Policy, 1958-1971

AU - Tomlinson, Jim

N1 - dc.publisher: Cambridge University Press

PY - 2003/11

Y1 - 2003/11

N2 - Development aid became a significant feature of British foreign and economic policy from the late 1950s. While giving a chronological account of policy developments in this field down to the publication of the Pearson report of 1971, this article is organised around three predominant themes. First, aid has to be seen in the context of Commonwealth relations, with the Commonwealth as both the major recipient of British aid and the main context in which it was organised and discussed. Second, policies on aid were closely tied to developments in policy on the balance of payments, the perceived state of which consistently influenced the volume of aid-giving. Finally, aid policy was part of a complex international debate about the concept of ‘need’, which at least in part shaped who were to be the recipients of aid, and at the same time about the proper measure of the ‘burden’ of aid which helped to shape the policy of the main givers

AB - Development aid became a significant feature of British foreign and economic policy from the late 1950s. While giving a chronological account of policy developments in this field down to the publication of the Pearson report of 1971, this article is organised around three predominant themes. First, aid has to be seen in the context of Commonwealth relations, with the Commonwealth as both the major recipient of British aid and the main context in which it was organised and discussed. Second, policies on aid were closely tied to developments in policy on the balance of payments, the perceived state of which consistently influenced the volume of aid-giving. Finally, aid policy was part of a complex international debate about the concept of ‘need’, which at least in part shaped who were to be the recipients of aid, and at the same time about the proper measure of the ‘burden’ of aid which helped to shape the policy of the main givers

U2 - 10.1017/S0960777303001358

DO - 10.1017/S0960777303001358

M3 - Article

SN - 0960-7773

VL - 12

SP - 413

EP - 429

JO - Contemporary European History

JF - Contemporary European History

IS - 4

ER -