Japanese Aid and the Construction of Global Development: Inescapable Solutions

Instead of asking the usual questions about Japanese aid — Why is Japanese aid so different from that of other donors? Is Japanese aid effective? — this collection takes it as axiomatic that Japanese aid actors are now working in a contentious environment affected by changing global norms of aid.

Japanese Aid and the Construction of Global Development analyses the changing political contexts, both at home and abroad, within which Japanese aid officials develop their programs. It tracks the tensions facing aid officials as they seek to negotiate between a long-term organizational bias in the Japanese government of promoting "growth-oriented" policies, and new demands for Japan to engage a broader array of "human security" concerns. In the third section, contributors provide case studies of new policies designed to cope with transnational human security issues, particularly involving environmental protection, gender equality, and the spread of HIV/AIDS. Finally, the book turns its lens back to Japan with chapters on how changing aid relationships alter Japan’s ability to cope with transnational problems like refugee flows, sex trafficking, and terrorism.

This book will be of interest to students and scholars of the politics and culture of global development, Japanese politics and foreign policy, international relations and international law.

David Leheny is the Henry Wendt III '55 Professor of East Asian Studies at Princeton University.

Kay Warren is the Charles B. Tillinghast Jr. '32 Professor of International Studies and professor of anthropology at Brown University.