This article describes how cross-border trade in West Nile, north-western
Uganda to a large exte... more This article describes how cross-border trade in West Nile, north-western
Uganda to a large extent takes place outside of the legal framework. This
does not mean that this trade is unregulated. We make use of the concept
of ‘practical norms’ to show the existence of regulation within this trade,
which diverges both from official norms and social norms (‘moral economy’).
The article describes how these practical norms emerged and how they are
enforced. First, it is shown how the moral economy of cross-border trade plays
an important role in their articulation. Second, we ask which practical concerns
play a role in sustaining these norms and how deviations from them activate
open power struggles. And third, we show how concrete events have played a
role in their emergence.
Http Dx Doi Org 10 1080 02255189 2003 9668917, Feb 15, 2011
In order to better understand the dynamics involved in emergency food aid programs, this paper an... more In order to better understand the dynamics involved in emergency food aid programs, this paper analyzes the case of Kinshasa (1992–1995). The interaction between local health personnel engaged in the programme and the—potential, legitimate, and unintended—beneficiaries of the aid is central to this paper. The classical concepts of moral hazard and adverse selection, often cited in the current literature on
The education sector has virtually disappeared from the Congolese state budget since the mid-1980... more The education sector has virtually disappeared from the Congolese state budget since the mid-1980s. Yet schools have both managed to survive on school fees and to reproduce the public education sector, even though complete privatization would have been a realistic option. In this article, the authors understand this engagement with the state whilst simultaneously bending its rules as a negotiation strategy for better terms of inclusion in the state system. Different state actors cultivate their 'own' practical versions of official rules. In this way, they create space to respond to parents' demand for education, to increase the number of teachers and their salaries far beyond what would otherwise have been possible, and to reproduce the system over time. One may wonder, however, whether the resilience of the sector in the face of the implosion of the state budget does not come at the price of building a more inclusive and higher quality education system.
En partant de la présentation les fondements théoriques de l’approche monétaire de la pauvreté, n... more En partant de la présentation les fondements théoriques de l’approche monétaire de la pauvreté, nous faisons une critique méthodologique de cette approche en abordant quatre questions : la question de l’unité d’analyse, des ressources, de la comparaison du bien-être dans le temps et de la comparaison du bien-être avec le fameux seuil ‘universel’ de pauvreté. Chaque question représente une étape
This paper proposes a normative and an analytical framework for an actor-oriented conceptualizati... more This paper proposes a normative and an analytical framework for an actor-oriented conceptualization of the development of rural territories with the aim to inform practitioners’ interventions. For the latter, we stress the need for a more realistic and modest positioning vis-à-vis the endogenous strategies of interacting actors in the rural territories. Our normative framework draws on a relational elaboration of Sen’s human capabilities approach. We adopt an ethical individualism (each individual’s well-being is the criterion for development), but reject methodological individualism (well-being of individuals depends mainly on their own efforts). We argue that power-laden social relations determine outcomes in the multiple political arenas which will open or close collective development pathways upon which the (non)realization of people’s desired livelihood trajectories depend. In the second part, we develop an analytical framework that allows us to interpret the emergence of such ...
In this paper, we assess to what extent large-scale debt relief, irrevocably granted to DRC in 20... more In this paper, we assess to what extent large-scale debt relief, irrevocably granted to DRC in 2010 after a decade long bumpy process, has impacted on post-conflict reconstruction, governance and public service delivery in the country, more particularly in the education sector. In principle, this link potentially works through two main channels, one being increased overall resource availability, the other one through imposed conditionality to receive the debt relief. We show that resource availability indeed increased for the sector, with positive effects on e.g. teacher wages and pupil enrolment, but it did little in improving pro-poor service delivery in education. The latter is complicated by the political economy of the education sector, characterized by a system that basically transforms schools into tax points (through school fees, rather than being financed by transfers from the central level) with redistribution of proceeds to all stakeholders, a system that was rather repro...
This article describes how cross-border trade in West Nile, north-western
Uganda to a large exte... more This article describes how cross-border trade in West Nile, north-western
Uganda to a large extent takes place outside of the legal framework. This
does not mean that this trade is unregulated. We make use of the concept
of ‘practical norms’ to show the existence of regulation within this trade,
which diverges both from official norms and social norms (‘moral economy’).
The article describes how these practical norms emerged and how they are
enforced. First, it is shown how the moral economy of cross-border trade plays
an important role in their articulation. Second, we ask which practical concerns
play a role in sustaining these norms and how deviations from them activate
open power struggles. And third, we show how concrete events have played a
role in their emergence.
Http Dx Doi Org 10 1080 02255189 2003 9668917, Feb 15, 2011
In order to better understand the dynamics involved in emergency food aid programs, this paper an... more In order to better understand the dynamics involved in emergency food aid programs, this paper analyzes the case of Kinshasa (1992–1995). The interaction between local health personnel engaged in the programme and the—potential, legitimate, and unintended—beneficiaries of the aid is central to this paper. The classical concepts of moral hazard and adverse selection, often cited in the current literature on
The education sector has virtually disappeared from the Congolese state budget since the mid-1980... more The education sector has virtually disappeared from the Congolese state budget since the mid-1980s. Yet schools have both managed to survive on school fees and to reproduce the public education sector, even though complete privatization would have been a realistic option. In this article, the authors understand this engagement with the state whilst simultaneously bending its rules as a negotiation strategy for better terms of inclusion in the state system. Different state actors cultivate their 'own' practical versions of official rules. In this way, they create space to respond to parents' demand for education, to increase the number of teachers and their salaries far beyond what would otherwise have been possible, and to reproduce the system over time. One may wonder, however, whether the resilience of the sector in the face of the implosion of the state budget does not come at the price of building a more inclusive and higher quality education system.
En partant de la présentation les fondements théoriques de l’approche monétaire de la pauvreté, n... more En partant de la présentation les fondements théoriques de l’approche monétaire de la pauvreté, nous faisons une critique méthodologique de cette approche en abordant quatre questions : la question de l’unité d’analyse, des ressources, de la comparaison du bien-être dans le temps et de la comparaison du bien-être avec le fameux seuil ‘universel’ de pauvreté. Chaque question représente une étape
This paper proposes a normative and an analytical framework for an actor-oriented conceptualizati... more This paper proposes a normative and an analytical framework for an actor-oriented conceptualization of the development of rural territories with the aim to inform practitioners’ interventions. For the latter, we stress the need for a more realistic and modest positioning vis-à-vis the endogenous strategies of interacting actors in the rural territories. Our normative framework draws on a relational elaboration of Sen’s human capabilities approach. We adopt an ethical individualism (each individual’s well-being is the criterion for development), but reject methodological individualism (well-being of individuals depends mainly on their own efforts). We argue that power-laden social relations determine outcomes in the multiple political arenas which will open or close collective development pathways upon which the (non)realization of people’s desired livelihood trajectories depend. In the second part, we develop an analytical framework that allows us to interpret the emergence of such ...
In this paper, we assess to what extent large-scale debt relief, irrevocably granted to DRC in 20... more In this paper, we assess to what extent large-scale debt relief, irrevocably granted to DRC in 2010 after a decade long bumpy process, has impacted on post-conflict reconstruction, governance and public service delivery in the country, more particularly in the education sector. In principle, this link potentially works through two main channels, one being increased overall resource availability, the other one through imposed conditionality to receive the debt relief. We show that resource availability indeed increased for the sector, with positive effects on e.g. teacher wages and pupil enrolment, but it did little in improving pro-poor service delivery in education. The latter is complicated by the political economy of the education sector, characterized by a system that basically transforms schools into tax points (through school fees, rather than being financed by transfers from the central level) with redistribution of proceeds to all stakeholders, a system that was rather repro...
Although international development discourse considers the state as a crucial development actor, ... more Although international development discourse considers the state as a crucial development actor, there remains a significant discrepancy between the official norms of the state and public services and the actual practices of political elites and civil servants.
This text interrogates the variety of ways in which state policies and legal norms have been translated into the set of practical norms which make up real governance in sub-Saharan Africa. It argues that the concept of practical norms is an appropriate tool for an ethnographic investigation of public bureaucracies, interactions between civil servants and users, and the daily functioning of the state in Africa. It demonstrates that practical norms are usually different from official norms, complementing, bypassing and even contradicting them. In addition, it explores the positive and negative effects of different aspects of this ‘real governance’.
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Papers by Tom De Herdt
Uganda to a large extent takes place outside of the legal framework. This
does not mean that this trade is unregulated. We make use of the concept
of ‘practical norms’ to show the existence of regulation within this trade,
which diverges both from official norms and social norms (‘moral economy’).
The article describes how these practical norms emerged and how they are
enforced. First, it is shown how the moral economy of cross-border trade plays
an important role in their articulation. Second, we ask which practical concerns
play a role in sustaining these norms and how deviations from them activate
open power struggles. And third, we show how concrete events have played a
role in their emergence.
Uganda to a large extent takes place outside of the legal framework. This
does not mean that this trade is unregulated. We make use of the concept
of ‘practical norms’ to show the existence of regulation within this trade,
which diverges both from official norms and social norms (‘moral economy’).
The article describes how these practical norms emerged and how they are
enforced. First, it is shown how the moral economy of cross-border trade plays
an important role in their articulation. Second, we ask which practical concerns
play a role in sustaining these norms and how deviations from them activate
open power struggles. And third, we show how concrete events have played a
role in their emergence.
This text interrogates the variety of ways in which state policies and legal norms have been translated into the set of practical norms which make up real governance in sub-Saharan Africa. It argues that the concept of practical norms is an appropriate tool for an ethnographic investigation of public bureaucracies, interactions between civil servants and users, and the daily functioning of the state in Africa. It demonstrates that practical norms are usually different from official norms, complementing, bypassing and even contradicting them. In addition, it explores the positive and negative effects of different aspects of this ‘real governance’.