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Abstract
As a global project of engineering and imagining the world, international development shaped subjectivities and societies, engaging with what Ann Laura Stoler (Citation2008) has referred to as ‘imperial ruins’: what was left after colonialism. Ironically, international development as a project is deeply unhistorical in its ‘forgetfulness’ of colonial histories and postcolonial entanglements. This essay discusses international development in relation to spatial organization of the world, asking how development creates certain spaces of imagination where actions become meaningful while the wider context is made invisible, as well as allowing uncomfortable political issues – such as those concerning asylum seekers and the power of multinational corporations in creating poverty – within and outside the borders of the nation-state to become irrelevant. At the same time that individuals from different parts of the world are brought into contact with each other, development creates a platform that structures these relationships as existing outside global political contexts.
Acknowledgement
This work was supported by The Icelandic Center for Research (RANNÍS) [grant number130426-051].
Notes
1 Marxist perspectives do still necessarily involve critical assessment of modernization and linear process as such.
2 These changes involve increased association of security and peace as key development issues (Duffield Citation2006; UNDP Citation2005, 169); the blurring of boundaries between humanitarian aid and development (UNDP Citation2005); the increased militarization of humanitarianism (Chhachhi and Herrera Citation2007); and the emergence of new actors from recently ‘developed’ nations that have brought new ways of doing development to the table (Harrison Citation2013).
3 However, as argued by Gledhill (Citation2004, 338), the rhetoric of ‘rolling back the state’ often means no less use of state power and resources, as decisions are increasingly made back stage.
4 Some scholars see the increased move towards security and authoritarianism in the post-9/11 environment as signifying a move away from neoliberalism (Hyatt Citation2011, 106); however, of importance here is how security discourses have become acute symbols of the present. As Fassin (Citation2013, 217) argues in the context of France, instead of police practices being modified according to the law, laws and institutions are shaped to adhere better to police practices, where socially marginalized groups are increasingly subjects of surveillance.
5 ‘Viðskiptaráð leggur til að Ísland hætti að bera sig saman við Norðurlöndin enda stöndum við þeim framar á flestum sviðum.’
6 The Icelandic text literally states ‘responsible nation in the society of nations’.
7 ABC, established in 1988, focuses on assisting children in developing countries.
8 ‘Í hvert skipti sem þú kaupir flösku af Toppi gefur þú 3 lítra af hreinu vatni til Afríku.’
9 As explained by the Directorate of Immigration: ‘Due to the geographical position of Iceland within Europe it is quite common for asylum seekers in Iceland to have applied for asylum or gained some kind of permit for stay in other Member States before they arrive in Iceland’ (Útlendingastofnun Citation2014).
10 Between 1996 and 2009, thirteen people were granted asylum, 194 were denied asylum and 247 were deported. In 2011, thirty-seven people were deported, compared to an average of nineteen people per year between 1996 and 2009. The number of people deported continues to being high (Grapevine, 5 December 2012).
11 Since this essay was written, the government of Iceland has worked towards improving conditions for asylum seekers, including reducing the waiting time for responding to and processing applications.