What's in a Label? Western Donors' Construction of Success and Failure in Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau

Abstract: This talk presents a critique of aid discourses of success and failure as the basis for intervention in Africa, using Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau as case studies. By questioning why such discourses emerge, how they evolve and what their implications are, I seek to contribute to constructivist theories of international relations and development, whilst also offering an analysis of how this instrument of global governance has played out in the two countries.

Short bio: Teresa Almeida Cravo is currently a Visiting Fellow at the African Studies Centre of the University of Oxford, working on a book manuscript on the politics of discourse in the context of western donors' relations with specific African countries. She is an Assistant Professor in International Relations at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Coimbra and a Researcher at the Centre for Social Studies.