Work

Aid in the Age of Amazon: Imperial Logics, Pacific Resistance and an Alternate Paradigm

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Recent disruptions in international aid, including geopolitics, technological innovation, and budget cuts, have prompted debate about paradigm shift. Drawing on critical Pacific scholarship and regional experience, we argue these changes represent consolidation rather than transformation, intensifying imperial logics that have long defined aid relationships. Donor dominance persists, private actors proliferate, and Pacific agency remains constrained with the aid sector. Yet an alternative paradigm already exists. Through resistance, recalibration, and pragmatic diplomacy, Pacific states and societies have long asserted development as relational, sovereign, and self‐determined. We argue real transformation will not come from within the system, but from joining those pushing beyond it.

Source: Development Policy Review

DOI: 10.1111/dpr.70030

Authors: Dame Meg Taylor, Solstice Middleby, Suli Vunibola

Institutions: The University of Adelaide, Lincoln University

Language: English

Topic: International Development and Aid

Subfield: Development

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Partnerships for the goals, Peace, justice, and strong institutions

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,470