Department of Political Science

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Department of Political Science

Perspectives on Development

and Diplomacy

A Case Study of Swedish Foreign Relations with Mozambique

Joel Westerlund

Independent research paper, 15 credits Political Science III (30 credits)

Spring 2020

Supervisor: Max Fonseca

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Perspectives on Development and

Diplomacy

A Case Study of Swedish Foreign Relations with Mozambique

Joel Westerlund

Abstract

This thesis presents a case study of Sweden’s foreign relations with Mozambique. It has been conducted in a deductive way departing from Arturo Escobar’s post-development theory, and with qualitative textual and content analysis combined with a semi-structured interview as methods. The aim of the study has been to test post-development theory on a least likely case, i.e. a case least likely to prove the theory right. The question being posed is whether countries giving foreign aid are doing so with altruistic or egoistic motives, and the starting point for this case study is the supposition that Sweden might exhibit a degree of altruism in its foreign policy. Sweden has been chosen as an

example of an odd man out-state in international perspective, in order to ascertain whether structuralist critiques of the Western establishment and its development practices hold true or not. The results of this study show a mixed picture, where certain criteria of Escobar’s theory are found even in this least likely case; however, they are not fulfilled to the maximum, and the study also shows deep flaws in Escobar’s theory. The thesis presents a scrutiny of the historical relations between Sweden and Mozambique and moves on to a reading of official documents from Swedish authorities. Escobar’s cynical view of the Western establishment as consisting exclusively of malicious plutocrats is challenged, acknowledged and questioned at the same time. The study teaches us that there are exceptions to the rule, and that it might be dangerous to be so categorical in one’s assessments.

Keywords

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1. Introduction

1.1. Research Problem

Criticism has been directed against both Western and Eastern great powers for acting in their own self-interest in international relations, even when giving the impression that they are trying to help poorer nations to develop. This criticism comes from scholars such as Arturo Escobar (2012), Joseph E. Stiglitz (2017) and Fu-Lai Tony Yu (2017), with the former two being bent on criticising the West and its institutions, and the latter on criticising China. From this research, theories can be derived that richer nations are acting in their own self-interest while claiming that they are doing something good for poorer nations, when giving foreign – development – aid and even humanitarian assistance. This criticism entails allegations of neo-colonialism. However, these allegations might seem contrary to observed reality and may be difficult for observers of international relations to accept.

Today, the world could be witnessing something which might be compared to the scramble for Africa which took place during the nineteenth century. This time it is China that is trying to gain influence over the continent, while the Western world tries to maintain its strategic relations. The perceived conflict between Eastern and Western interests is a

prominent feature of today’s international relations, as well as the divide between the Global North and the Global South.

This thesis will explore a small fragment of this larger topic. The subject matter of the study is the case of Swedish foreign relations with Mozambique. Sweden has played a significant role in the history of development aid and was a First World country with a non-aligned status during the twentieth century. Mozambique is ranked among the poorest countries in the world and is consequently a prioritised aid recipient. Mozambique is also a non-aligned country, and as is the case with other African nations, it is a battleground for influences from both the West and the East.

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right, and since the Escobarian theory supposes that countries giving foreign aid are doing so with egoistic motives, the least likely case is one where the supposition is made that Sweden is giving aid with altruistic motives. (George & Bennett 2005: 70 ff.)

1.2. Theory, Purpose and Research Question

The study will be carried out by answering the following research question:

• What evidence is there that Sweden is acting with altruistic or egoistic motives in its foreign relations with Mozambique?

The purpose of the study is to test two hypotheses: 1) that countries giving aid are doing so with altruistic motives, and 2) that countries giving aid are doing so with egoistic motives. The criteria for testing the post-development theory will be derived from the following discussion and quotations by Escobar (wherefrom certain modes of operation and their significance can be extracted):

Imbued with the major tenets of economistic, reductionistic, and Malthusian thinking, it is not surprising that the World Bank defined rural development as a strategy “concerned with the modernization and monetization of rural society, and with its transition from traditional isolation to integration with the national economy … [it] implies greater interaction between the modern and traditional sectors” (1975, 3). These experts would not entertain the idea that too much interaction with the modern sector was the source of peasants’ problems. Nor would they give up the belief that modern-sector and macroeconomic policies continued to be the most important for development theory (16), even if a few sentences earlier too much concern with growth had been blamed for rural poverty! / This imperialism in representation reflects structural and

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serializations in which it relies circumscribe the Third World, fragment and recompose the countryside and its people, manipulate visibilities, act on imperfections or deficiencies (of capital, of technology, of knowledge, perhaps even of the right skin color), make projects happen; in short, they ensure a certain functioning of power. / […] / […] What is involved in agricultural strategies such as IRD is the further expansion of the type of agriculture responsible for the emergence of modern food […]. The process, however, has not been successful; food production has not increased sufficiently, and where it has food has not reached those who need it;

consequently, the levels of poverty and malnutrition have become staggering. This is the political economy that goes with the economy of statements and visibilities organized by the development discourse. (Escobar 2012: 162 f.)

Whatever these traditional ways might have been, and without idealizing them, it is true that massive poverty in the modern sense appeared only when the spread of the market economy broke down community ties and deprived millions of people from access to land, water, and other resources. With the consolidation of capitalism, systemic pauperization became inevitable. (Escobar 2012: 22)

As can be seen from the above, the main significance of Escobar’s post-development theory is the claim that development aid does more harm than good, mainly because it disrupts

traditional ways of living and creates dependency on the North from the South and on the national economy from the people, among other things. There are explicit references in

Escobar’s work to authors such as Raúl Prebisch (the father of dependency theory), Karl Marx and Michel Foucault. Consequently, Escobar’s post-development theory might be designated as partly based on dependency theory, post-Marxism, and post-structuralism. Escobar also draws inspiration from less famous theorists and even from obscure sources outside of the academies. The meaning of the name post-development is that Escobar, by disclosing to us the imperfections of development practice, will convince us to abandon development altogether so that the former Third World will be known as the Global South, now free from this last remnant of colonial shackles.

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• 1. Politico-Economic Domination: According to Escobar, foreign development aid is a means of control used by the industrialised nations of the West to dominate the so-called Third World. It is intended to create dependency from the Global South on the Global North. It does this by removing the means of self-sufficiency available to people in the rural areas, so that they will become dependent on the national economy (in other words, economisation of subsistence, similar to the historical processes of enclosure in the West, now spreading to the rest). This chain of production will consequently entail that states in the South will be forced to export as much as possible to the North and be paid back insufficient amounts of money to support themselves. This will also lock states in the South in dependency on loans from the North. In this perspective, according to Escobar, it matters less if humanitarian

assistance occasionally does something good, since the larger equation will amount to loss for the South and gain for the North.

• 2. Cultural Domination: When the doctrine of development is implemented, it creates a so-called field of visibilities, whereby the South becomes the victim of the gaze of the North, as being underdeveloped, backward and in need of help. According to Escobar, this is a social construction and not a fact of life. Politico-economic strength entails the power to dominate the weaker part culturally and ideologically. Escobar’s (2012: 3) chief example of this is a United Nations’ statement from 1951 claiming that: ‘[…] rapid economic progress is impossible without painful adjustments. Ancient

philosophies have to be scrapped; old social institutions have to disintegrate; […] and large numbers of persons who cannot keep up with progress have to have their

expectations of a comfortable life frustrated.’ Thus, rapacious cultural domination points the finger at entire nations and cultures in an unequal way. According to Escobar, this is a one-way process, from the North towards the South, allowing Western states to dictate appropriate cultural behaviour. Cultural domination can be used to justify more and more politico-economic domination in an ever-expanding way. To Escobar’s mind, it is probably better to be poor (economically) and free (culturally) rather than rich and dominated, but his assertion is that development has made states both poor and dominated.

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these cannot hold true for every case in every context. Second, these bold accusations might overlook context-specific factors such as the history and agency of individual countries and their relations to other states or international organisations. Third, the supposition that every state concerned with foreign aid has evil intentions is very cynical indeed and should certainly have to stand to the test. Following from the above discussion, Escobar’s main answer to this criticism would be that the particular details are less important, since he is concerned with development in its entirety, and that his critique is valid despite the occasional good that it might have done. This discussion could continue for much longer and has to be followed up later on.

For now, these three theoretical blocks will have to suffice and form the basis of the coding frame. The criteria found here, the challenges to them and their answers, epitomise Escobar’s post-development theory. This coding frame will form the foundation for what theoretical criteria must be found in the empirical case study if we are to speak of either altruism or egoism in foreign policy and foreign aid.

To recapitulate the content of this chapter, let it be said that the purpose of this thesis and study is to test whether: 1) countries giving aid are doing so with altruistic motives, or 2) countries giving aid are doing so with egoistic motives. The case concerned here is Sweden in relation to Mozambique. The study will be carried out by testing post-development theory summarised in three theoretical blocks under the titles: Politico-Economic Domination;

Cultural Domination; Objections to Post-Development Theory and its Responses.

1.3. Method, Material and Methodological Discussion

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However, the historically oriented interview is a good complement since it covers another time period than the contemporary documents. The analysis based on the interview runs the risk of being more subjective than the analysis based on the documents, which can aspire to greater objectivity due to their formal nature.

To choose a least likely case in order to test Escobar’s post-development theory, as has been done here, is valuable because it tests the theory to its extreme. (George & Bennett 2005: 70 ff.) The method of making a case study also creates qualitative knowledge of a specific field. In order to accurately test Escobar’s theory, extensive quotations have been made from his book, Encountering Development: The Making and Unmaking of the Third World; and following from this, a coding frame has been devised. The coding frame presents modes of operation which Escobar designate as typical of development practice, and thus states what phenomena must be found in the empirical material for us to be able to speak of either altruism or egoism in foreign policy.

The rationale for choosing the case of foreign relations between Sweden and Mozambique to test Escobar’s theory has already been described as part of the research problem. In short, this case might be regarded as extraordinary in an international perspective, for historical reasons which will be described in greater detail; suffice it for now to say that Sweden supported several African states during their struggles for independence during the twentieth century. Mozambique has been and is still one of the largest recipients of

development aid from Sweden. The present author of this thesis runs the risk of becoming blind to certain aspects of the subject since he is deeply involved in this context; however, he also has the advantage of having experienced parts of the case first-hand.

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to strive towards an objective picture of reality, and the present author is well aware of the saying that one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.

The value of case studies has been defended by Alexander George and Andrew Bennett (2005). They discuss the ascent of quantitative studies on behalf of qualitative studies during the latter part of the twentieth century and try to defend case studies and theory development or testing as a viable method in the social sciences. They make out a good case and remind us that qualitative knowledge through language is the foundation of our understanding of the world, and while quantitative knowledge also can be helpful, it cannot tell us everything.

1.4. Previous Research

The case of foreign relations between Sweden and Mozambique is partly the subject of a dissertation by Therese Brolin (2017). She argues that the relations between the two countries are comparatively good as opposed to Swedish relations with Uganda. But there have recently been corruption scandals in Mozambique, which led to withdrawal of budget support from many countries. This had to do with bankers in Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates conspiring with agents in the Mozambican state to lift out money from foreign aid into their own pockets. The opposition from Uganda is due to Sweden’s advocacy of homosexuality, which among other things now also has caused aid recipients in many countries – including Mozambique – to have to choose between development cooperation with countries such as Sweden in contrast to the United States under Trump which has shifted to a conservative policy on these issues. Brolin’s (2017) most important contribution is to show how the Swedish development strategy has shifted from the idea of donorship, based on generosity, to a results agenda which puts higher demands on recipients than before; this shift might reflect the former leftist wave turning into momentum for the right, to some extent.

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international capitalism but he believes that the alternative is worse; and his suggestion is to try to save globalisation through an international social-liberal system based on Keynesian economic theory and partly modelled on the Scandinavian welfare state, which Stiglitz considers to be the only well-functioning political system in the world today. As a citizen of Scandinavia, one could perhaps say that this romantic image of the promised land is dying slowly. It might be that we are better off than 90% of the world, but there is growing discontent with our establishment as well.

This criticism will be contrasted with a more positive approach to development which is represented by John Rapley (2007), who answers to Escobar’s criticism with what the latter calls ‘the empty defence of development’ (Escobar 2012: 217). Rapley (2007) has a sobering view of the situation, acknowledging some aspects and counterbalancing others. He takes the reader on a journey from the beginning of development with its leftist orientation in the mid of the twentieth century, to the demise of the left and the ascent of neoliberalism in the late twentieth century, and then back to the political middle and onward to the present day, where the question is if development will end or not. The following case study can hopefully give the reader some perspectives on whether this is a desirable outcome or not.

2. Investigation and Analysis

This investigation will be conducted using the coding frame that has been devised departing from quotations and discussions by Escobar (2012), which has been presented above. It will be recapitulated in an abbreviated format here:

• 1. Politico-Economic Domination: According to Escobar, foreign development aid is a means of control used by the industrialised nations of the West to dominate the so-called Third World. It is intended to create dependency from the Global South on the Global North. It does this by removing the means of self-sufficiency available to people in the rural areas, so that they will become dependent on the national economy. This chain of production will consequently entail that states in the South will be forced to export as much as possible to the North and be paid back insufficient amounts of money to support themselves. This will also lock states in the South in dependency on loans from the North. In this perspective, according to Escobar, it matters less if humanitarian assistance occasionally does something good, since the larger equation will amount to loss for the South and gain for the North.

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being underdeveloped, backward and in need of help. According to Escobar, this is a social construction and not a fact of life. Politico-economic strength entails the power to dominate the weaker part culturally and ideologically. Escobar’s (2012: 3) chief example of this is a United Nations’ statement from 1951 claiming that: ‘[…] rapid economic progress is

impossible without painful adjustments. Ancient philosophies have to be scrapped; old social institutions have to disintegrate; […] and large numbers of persons who cannot keep up with progress have to have their expectations of a comfortable life frustrated.’ Thus, rapacious cultural domination points the finger at entire nations and cultures in an unequal way. According to Escobar, this is a one-way process, from the North towards the South, allowing Western states to dictate appropriate cultural behaviour. Cultural domination can be used to justify more and more politico-economic domination in an ever-expanding way.

• 3. Objections to Post-Development Theory and its Responses: First and foremost, it could be said that sweeping statements such as these cannot hold true for every case in every context. Second, these bold accusations might overlook context-specific factors such as the history and agency of individual countries and their relations to other states or international organisations. Third, the supposition that every state concerned with foreign aid has evil intentions is very cynical indeed and should certainly have to stand to the test. Following from the above discussion, Escobar’s main answer to this criticism would be that the particular details are less important, since he is concerned with development in its entirety, and that his critique is valid despite the occasional good that it might have done.

Henceforth, these theoretical definitions and criteria will be used in order to scrutinise the empirical material of this study. To this objective we will now turn.

2.1. Interview

The interview discussed in the following chapter has been carried out by the present author of this thesis. It provides information from an historian working in this scholarly field. The material from the interview is intended to give an historical background to complement the contemporary reports which have been used in the case study.

According to Urban Lundberg, Associate Professor of History at Stockholm University, the Swedish cooperation with Mozambique began during the country’s struggle for

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control of Mozambique, the Swedish support shifted to development aid in much larger proportion. Mozambique became one of the largest recipients of development aid from Sweden ever, alongside a few other countries such as Tanzania and Zambia. According to Lundberg, the Swedish politicians of the day felt a sense of companionship with Frelimo, due to their ambition to create a free and democratic society. In the Swedish parliament, the Social Democrats (Socialdemokraterna) alongside the Liberal Party (Folkpartiet) supported this foreign policy, while the Conservative Party (Moderaterna) opposed it.

Lundberg continues by saying that Sweden was the only Western country that had a bilateral cooperation with Frelimo, and this was possible only because of Sweden’s non-alignment towards NATO, whereas NATO countries such as Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands, which also strongly supported the liberation struggle in southern Africa, had to coordinate their humanitarian initiatives with various UN-agencies and NGO:s active in the region. The Swedish politicians of the day viewed themselves as unique and avantgarde. There was a strong popular support for the policy of promoting Sweden as a saviour in the United Nations, which has continued to this day. Foreign development aid was, to some parts of the Swedish State Department, a strategy to convince more states to support the alleged politics of neutrality and non-alignment with respect to the American and Soviet blocs. But creating an alliance of non-aligned states was synonymous with taking part for someone else. Portugal protested against Sweden’s involvement with Frelimo, and later similar protests against Sweden’s support to ANC would come from the political right in many countries, including Sweden.

Lundberg claims that there initially was an internal political division in Sweden over the shape of foreign policy towards the liberation movements. The left marginally won the

struggle, but there was quite a lot of confusion about what the country was actually doing in its support to other countries. The African liberation movements sent wish lists to Sweden which a special committee decided over before it was passed on to parliament. In the case of Mozambique, parliamentary support was relatively strong, and relations were intimate with Frelimo leader Samora Machel. This has shaped the development cooperation ever since. The oppositional party Renamo was seen as counter-revolutionary and dangerous by many

Swedish politicians of the past.

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There was a belief among Swedish politicians that Frelimo had found a viable path to a more equal and progressive society in Mozambique and the government received all the support it could to strengthen its power. Then the civil war intervened in Mozambique and disrupted all the projects that had begun, which makes it difficult to evaluate them in retrospect. Lundberg notes that it takes force to win a war and liberate a country, but it takes much milder measures to preserve freedom and peace. It has proven to be difficult to balance these different aspects. Nevertheless, Lundberg asserts that the new Mozambique which grew forth from the struggles was believed to be something natural and primordial, born out of the ashes of colonial rule. Lundberg believes that Swedish development aid might have done both good and bad. From the Swedish perspective, it further opened the country to the world, and it might have changed the way that Swedes view the rest of the world for the better. However, Swedish foreign aid was not technically set apart from foreign economic policy, Lundberg claims. Countermeasures were asked for the sums of money that were donated. Nonetheless, the idea of humanitarian aid might have been a moral and philosophical question for those parts of the Swedish population that believed in it. During the middle decades of the twentieth century, a social democratic political wave swept over Sweden and the left reigned supreme for forty years. To create what people believed was a more humane world was a major ideal for this generation, and foreign aid was a means to achieve this.

Later on, Lundberg continues, foreign development aid all the more explicitly melted into foreign economic policy, although there always existed a tension between altruism and egoism. Still, it has been a matter of pride for some parts of society and the population to be able to maintain a budget for foreign aid. Over the years, the political right has gained increasing momentum and calls have been made to decrease the amounts foreign aid and to make it more effective and profitable. Major and minor Swedish companies have certainly been able to do business because of the craftmanship of the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs and its agents; in fact, this was to some degree even the case at the outset of the Swedish cooperation with the liberation movement in Mozambique, which bought some Swedish goods. According to Lundberg, it is impossible to discern any specific motive which has driven all Swedish foreign aid and policy.

Where the world finds itself today, in the year of 2020, with the onslaught of the Corona virus and the accompanying economic crisis, the future of development aid is insecure. This might cheer up radicals on the left, such as Arturo Escobar, and on the right, such as

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village will probably depend significantly on how much different countries think they have to gain from continued cooperation and interaction.

When regarding the material which has been presented in this interview from the perspective of Escobarian theory, let us dwell upon his first and second criteria. The politico-economic domination of which he speaks, does it apply to this case? If it does so, it has to do with the money that Swedish companies have made on exports to Mozambique. But with regard to the economic losses for Swedish taxpayers, the case if far from clear cut. The equation is difficult to complete. Moving on to the cultural domination of which Escobar speaks, it is much easier to verify that it does. It is true that implementing the doctrine of development establishes a field of visibilities, and this holds true for the Swedish case as much as any other. Whether this is synonymous with an attitude of neo-colonialism towards the aid recipient is more difficult to say. Depending on a person’s viewpoint, one could say that this holds true for the case to some extent, or otherwise that this is not relevant with regard to the facts of the historical events. It remains a tough case to break, since Sweden helped Mozambique to gain independence from its colonisers.

2.2. Official Documents and Reports

The official documents and reports in question here (see References) are collected from the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and the Swedish Embassy in Maputo, Mozambique. They span a time period from 2008 to 2020. They belong to different categories: some are financial reports on expenses for the Swedish government, some are political reports on the work carried out by Swedish authorities, and some are strategical working papers. They have several different authors, often anonymous ones. They cover most – if not all – aspects of the Swedish development cooperation in Mozambique. As Therese Brolin (2017) has noted, the strategy has partly changed over the years. The concern of this case study will be to extract the central tenets of the Swedish development cooperation strategy, and to analyse it according to Escobar’s theoretical criteria, which have already been presented. At the end of the study, conclusions will be drawn about how the theory and the empirical material correlate.

Documents by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency

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This small booklet presents statistical information on how Swedish development and humanitarian aid is distributed among different countries and organisations. In 2015, Mozambique was the third largest recipient of development aid (in total: ‘760 000 000 SEK/Swedish Crowns’) next to Tanzania and Afghanistan. The booklet also shows how Swedish aid is distributed among different sectors, where bilateral cooperation, such as the one between Sweden and Mozambique, only ranks third, while the major part of the money in 2015 was spent on receiving refugees back in Sweden, and the second largest was spent on multilateral cooperation, such as the UN.

Sida (2017), “P6 Annex to Strategy Report 2017 for Mocambique 2015-2020” This document presents an annual statistic and figures over how the Swedish aid to

Mozambique is distributed among different areas and objectives that are part of the strategy. There are three main branches, each with several subcategories. Listed in order of size, they are the following:

• 1. ‘Strengthened democracy and gender equality, and greater respect for human rights’ – 231 304 000 SEK (Swedish Crowns)

• 2. ‘A better environment, limited climate impact and greater resilience to environmental impacts, climate change and natural disasters’ – 160 261 000 SEK

• 3. ‘Better opportunities and tools to enable poor people to improve their living conditions’ – 62 027 000 SEK

• ‘Phasing out [old projects]’ – 36 000 SEK

• In total – 453 628 000 SEK – Equal to approximately 40 000 000 USD/EUROS/POUNDS The subcategories will be listed below according to branch and in order of size:

• 1.1. ‘Stronger democratic institutions and increased capacity in public administration’ – 69 056 000 SEK

• 1.2. ‘Improved opportunities for girls and young women to take independent decisions regarding their sexuality and reproduction’ – 63 591 000 SEK

• 1.3. ‘Mozambique’s revenues to be mobilised, used and accounted for in a more transparent, sustainable and effective way that benefits the entire population – 45 456 000 SEK

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• 1.5. ‘Increased transparency, with a particular focus on citizens’ access to information on political and public decisions’ – 22 614 000 SEK

• 2.1. ‘Transparent and sustainable management and use of Mozambique’s natural resources’ – 48 484 000 SEK

• 2.2. ‘Sustainable food security with particular focus on resilient agriculture – 45 034 000 SEK • 2.3. ‘Enhanced capacity of national and local authorities to contribute to a better environment,

and greater resilience to environmental impacts, climate change and natural disasters’ – 43 357 000 SEK

• 2.4. ‘Increased access to renewable energy and reliable and sustainably produced electricity for households, businesses and public activities’ – 23 386 000 SEK

• 3.1. ‘Increased access to services and support, particularly for women and young people in rural areas, improving their opportunities to start and run commercial businesses’ – 26 041 000 SEK

• 3.2. ‘Greater opportunities, particularly for women and young people, for decent work and productive employment and entrepreneurship’ – 18 668 000 SEK

• 3.3. ‘Improved access to social security for poor households’ – 17 536 000 SEK

• 3.4. ‘Enhanced opportunities for actors, such as social partners and others, to work for rights in the labour market’ – [SIC:] -218 000 SEK

These objectives and figures can be taken as representative of the Swedish development cooperation with Mozambique today, and will be important to return to later in this analysis. For now, it can be noted that Escobar’s first criterion, politico-economic domination, is not self-evident unless one has that particular view of the situation; but some of the elements of which Escobar speaks are certainly present. Whether that is tantamount to exploitation is a difficult question to answer. However, the second criterion, cultural domination, is evident in so far as Sweden establishes a field of visibilities, which it certainly does insofar as it imposes its ideology on Mozambique. Whether this is morally wrong is a question to be answered mainly by the reader. As for the third criterion, if this case is unique or not, we can note that Swedish development strategy is influenced by international institutions, and still independent of them; therefore, it is probably a bit of both.

Documents and Reports by the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs

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This document, which is old in comparison with those that follow later on in this analysis, is still quite representative of Sweden’s development strategy. The same words often recur, such as the following:

Sweden’s strategic issues for dialogue will be:

– increased respect for human rights, focusing on participation, openness, accountability and non-discrimination;

– democratic and efficient governance, including fighting corruption; – increased climate adaption in society. (4)

These words may be compared with those already quoted in the strategical document with figures of money attached to them. The amounts attached to each objective lie in plain sight and can be scrutinised to the last detail on the website Openaid (see References), where they are posted according to the Swedish law of government transparency (Offentlighetsprincipen). A closer look will show that NGO:s such as Oxfam and WeEffect are major recipients of the money intended for humanitarian work. Quite a lot of the other resources are sent to

Mozambican NGO:s in order to circumvent state control. But Swedish diplomats have also worked together with the Mozambican state in developing a statistics agency, tax agency and anti-corruption ministry, for instance.

Let us now return to Escobar’s theoretical criteria. 1) The politico-economic domination of which he speaks, does it apply to this case? If it can be said to do so, it has to do with the multilateral support which Sweden provides to the international organisations which Escobar is concerned with, such as the World Bank, IMF and UN, and their programmes. This is not necessarily the case, but it requires that one has this view of the situation. When it comes to the bilateral cooperation between Sweden and Mozambique, the picture is more difficult to describe. One thing that Escobar does mention is ‘the type of agriculture responsible for the emergence of modern food’ (2012: 162 f.), and this criterion is to be found in the Swedish programmes as well. So, in a sense, the Swedish case corroborates the Escobarian theory, insofar as the programmes are concerned with modernising the Mozambican society.

However, this is not necessarily synonymous with the type of exploitation of which he speaks. There will inevitably be a degree of subjectivity in how one assesses this situation. The

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America, while their military force is frightening at the same time.

As for Escobar’s assertion that egoism is the main driving force behind foreign aid, we may observe that Swedish economic profit in Mozambique is small. According to this report (17), there are a dozen small companies doing business, while the Swedish Trade Council is trying to expand this venture. However, the amount of money being poured into foreign aid will definitely sum up to a loss for Sweden and a gain for Mozambique. In this respect, Escobar is definitely wrong; but he will probably answer that everything being done for the money is bad (expect, perhaps, emergency assistance and humanitarian aid). This will surely continue to sound offensive to everyone working with foreign aid and those who pay for it. The report goes on to state that: ‘A good reputation and tradition of democratic, open and effective administration gives Sweden special advantages in the area of good governance where it has been possible to carry on a critical dialogue, particularly as far as corruption is concerned.’ (17) This statement can be put into relation to the other two criteria discussed in this thesis. 2) The cultural domination which Escobar speaks of is built on establishing a field of visibilities, where one part is described as inferior and the other as superior. Whether it holds true in this case or not is a difficult and partly subjective question. Escobar’s assertion is that this socially constructed power relation is a means to justify a course of action. This sustains the discourse of developed and underdeveloped.

One such example is the earlier description of corruption scandals in Mozambique; to be just, we should also speak of the problems in Sweden. That being said, there are still those variables which can be measured and are not relative, such as GDP per capita. For that reason, it is hard for most people to accept complete relativism as Escobar does at times. However, he may be justified in saying that cultures are not valued equally in today’s world, and this has everything to do with economic power. As it is sometimes remarked, in a mad world only the madmen are truly sane.

When it comes to the last criterion, 3) the objections to post-development theory and its responses, much of this has already been touched upon. In relation to the previous

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thinking is vain and blind to its own faults; nonetheless, the case of Sweden and Mozambique has been chosen as a least likely case on the grounds that Sweden did not colonise the rest of the world to any significant extent in the late modern period, and being a loser is sometimes a good thing, because losers are not prone to hubris, and Sweden’s reputation (at least in part) as a benevolent state in the rest of the world might be well earnt.

Then, there arises the question whether this Swedish self-image is delusional or not. Either way, according to Escobar’s second criteria, it is obviously so that the Swedish development strategy does corroborate the theory in the sense that the Swedish

representatives try to impose their own culture on Mozambicans. Swedish values are being promoted, for better or for worse. Once again, it requires a subjective standpoint to say whether this is good or bad. Escobar seems to object to all such cooperation. To try to argue against such a view is a dead end.

Utrikesdepartementet (2011), “Strategy for humanitarian assistance provided through the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) 2011 – 2014”

This document presents the Swedish strategy for humanitarian assistance, which is summed up in the following way:

The overall objective of Swedish humanitarian assistance is to save lives, alleviate suffering and maintain human dignity for the benefit of people in need who are, or are at risk of becoming, affected by armed conflicts, natural disasters or other disaster situations. / In addition to armed conflicts, these situations may also include destructive economic policies, expulsion,

discrimination, etc. (3)

This is probably the part where the Escobarian theory meets its match most clearly. It would require a vivid imagination, the idea of a conspiracy so vast that one cannot believe that it exists, if one would think that all of this was being done in bad faith. As it is also remarked at times, you can fool some people sometimes, but you cannot fool all the people all the time. In this aspect it is neither a question of politico-economic nor cultural domination unless one wants to make out an elaborate case indeed. Therefore, post-development theory must at least in part be proven wrong here. Escobar would perhaps not agree, though.

Utrikesdepartementet (2016), “Mänskliga rättigheter, demokrati och rättstatens principer i Mocambique 2015-2016

This document presents qualitative and historical information which in many ways

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Mozambican politics. It definitely corroborates the Escobarian theory’s second criterion insofar as it establishes what he calls a field of visibilities, where Mozambique is made the victim of the Swedish gaze and its superiority and infallibility. It tells the story of an

underdeveloped country in crisis, where scholars are shot dead and court rulings are sold out to the highest bidder. The document states the following: ‘Mozambique is continually found among the countries at the lowest ranking in the UNDP:s index of human development.’ (1; my translation.) As for the quantitative aspect, it is true that we can measure differences in GDP per capita and say that Sweden is richer. The document also tells the story of

Mozambique as having a ruling party which has infiltrated the state bureaucracy. It is sadly so that democracy is in decline, as Freedom House has recently noted. In this aspect the

Escobarian theory is partly right as regards the second criterion. However, this document does not necessarily corroborate Escobar’s first criterion.

Utrikesdepartementet (2015), “Results strategy for Sweden’s international development cooperation with Mozambique 2015-2020”

The information in this document is similar and in part identical to that which has already been quoted when presenting the strategy objectives and sums of money attached to them. Therefore, it need not be dwelled upon much more. One more thing may be quoted for another reason:

Mozambique is a country in rapid change. In the past twenty years, the country has gone from varying degrees of conflict to becoming one of the world’s fastest growing economies. In this period, progress has been made in education, health and infrastructure. Mozambique’s ample natural resources […] offer opportunities to strengthen economic development and make investments […]. However, considerable development challenges remain. More than half of the population live below the national poverty line and there is extensive inequality. (4 f.)

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answer is ambiguous. Sweden and Mozambique were chosen to constitute a least likely case, where the theory was intended to be tested to the extreme. The result has been to show that part of the criteria of Escobarian theory were fulfilled, and others were not. We have seen that there are many layers and degrees in this world of thought.

Utrikesdepartementet (2017), “Strategy for Sweden’s humanitarian provided through the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) 2017 – 2020”

This document is similar to the former strategy for humanitarian aid and therefore it will not be dwelled upon for long. One change is the increased focus on gender theory which has momentum in Sweden. The document states that: ‘Over the last ten years, global humanitarian needs have increased significantly, above all as a result of conflicts that are difficult to

resolve, leading to protracted refugee situations.’ (1) This document can hardly be said to fulfil any of Escobar’s criteria to any serious extent.

Utrikesdepartementet (2018), “Regleringsbrev för budgetåret 2019 avseende Styrelsen för internationellt utvecklingssamarbete”

This document is the formal and legal text which executes the Swedish strategy for

development. It expresses that Sweden has bound itself to Agenda 2030. The document states that: ‘SIDA should contribute to achieving the goal set by parliament for foreign aid to contribute to creating better opportunities and living conditions for people living in poverty and oppression.’ (1; my translation.) This document fulfils the second criterion to some extent, but it is harder to say that it fulfils the first criterion. Once again, it requires a subjective standpoint.

Reports by the Swedish Embassy in Maputo, Mozambique

Embassy of Sweden in Maputo & ORGUT Consulting (2015), “Reality Checks Mozambique: Building better understanding of the dynamics of poverty and well-being: Final Report 2011-2015”

This document will not be dwelled upon for long but suffice it to say that it is a working paper which the Embassy has used. It fulfils Escobar’s second criterion. As for the first, it is more difficult to say. The third has already been discussed extensively and it is quite exhausted by now. The document states that: ‘The Swedish Embassy in Maputo and SIDA have decided that there is a need to assess the impact of development and poverty reduction “from below”, and to regularly consult local populations in order to understand local processes and

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might also please him since he is upset that development is about a dialogue between elites; in this case there is clearly some exception to the rule.

Embassy of Sweden in Maputo (2019), “Mozambique Multidimensional Poverty Analysis: Status and Trends”

This document follows the strategical framework. The same can be said about it in regard to the theoretical criteria as was said about the former document, that it fulfils the second criterion but perhaps not the first criterion by default. It is built on the United Nations framework as propagated by Agenda 2030. The document speaks of a ‘Multidimensional Poverty Analysis, for understanding poverty in multiple dimensions’. (1) According to Escobar, this is a sign of a poverty of the imagination. Different readers will definitely have different opinions on the truth of this situation. By now, most aspects of this subject matter have been exhausted within the framework and confines of this case study. Conclusions will be drawn and recapitulated in the following and final chapter.

3. Conclusion

3.1. Summary

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3.2. Results and Discussion

The main results of this study and thesis have been to show that Sweden does in fact to some degree fulfil the criteria of Escobarian theory, but not to the maximum. The theory might be considered to be flawed in so far as it assumes that everything being done in the name of development is done in bad faith. However, the modes of operation with which the discourse is constructed hold true for Sweden to some degree. To make calls for the abandonment of a strategy because it is partly flawed, as Escobar does, might be a dangerous way. But where the world finds itself today, things fall apart by themselves and the work remaining for us seems rather to be to try to reconstruct those parts of the system which can be saved. This case study has shown that the criterion which Sweden most clearly fulfils is the second, that of cultural domination, since the deployment of a development strategy implies the construction of a field of visibilities, where the recipient of aid, in this case Mozambique, is victimised by the gaze of the donor. Whether this is morally wrong must be answered by the reader. The first criterion, that of politico-economic domination, is more difficult to speak of. It is true to some degree that Swedish companies have gained from their investments in Mozambique, but Swedish taxpayers have also lost a lot of money. It requires a degree of subjectivity to be able to say whether this is evidence of exploitation or not. Opinions on this will most certainly differ.

As for the third criterion and its discussion of whether there are exceptional cases or not, this study has hopefully shown that the case of foreign relations between Sweden and

Mozambique does indeed have its unique history, which may be both similar and different to that of other cases. The study has delved deeper into the historical reasons for this bilateral cooperation, and also made a scrutiny of what has been happening in this respect up to the present day. The thesis has proven that there have been different motives and reasons

involved is this case, and that it is impossible to single out one supreme driving force. It might lead us to the conclusion that the state and its politics are a battleground for influences,

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References

Literature

Boréus, Kristina & Bergström, Göran (ed.) (2018). Textens mening och makt: Metodbok i

samhällsvetenskaplig text- och diskursanalys. Studentlitteratur

Brolin, Therese (2017). Ownership or Donorship?: Results and ownership in Swedish

international development cooperation. University of Gothenburg Press

Bryman, Alan (2011). Samhällsvetenskapliga metoder. Liber

Escobar, Arturo (2012). Encountering Development: The Making and Unmaking of the Third

World. Princeton University Press

George, Alexander L. & Bennett, Andrew (2005). Case Studies and Theory Development in

the Social Sciences. MIT Press

Rapley, John (2007). Understanding Development: Theory and Practice in the Third World. Lynne Rienner Publishers

Stiglitz, Joseph E. (2017). Globalization and its Discontents Revisited: Anti-Globalization in

the Era of Trump. Penguin Books

Yu, Fu-Lai Tony (2017). “Neo-Mercantilist Policy and China’s Rise as a Global Power.”

Contemporary Chinese Political Economy and Strategic Relations. An International Journal. Vol

3 No 3: 1043-1073 Sources

Documents and Reports by the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs

Utrikesdepartementet (2008), “Strategy for development cooperation with Mozambique: September 2008 – December 2012”

Utrikesdepartementet (2011), “Strategy for humanitarian assistance provided through the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) 2011 – 2014”

Utrikesdepartementet (2016), “Mänskliga rättigheter, demokrati och rättstatens principer i Mocambique 2015-2016”

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Utrikesdepartementet (2017), “Strategy for Sweden’s humanitarian provided through the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) 2017 – 2020”

Utrikesdepartementet (2018), “Regleringsbrev för budgetåret 2019 avseende Styrelsen för internationellt utvecklingssamarbete”

Documents by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency Sida (2015), “Svenskt utvecklingssamarbete och dess resultat i siffror”

Sida (2017), “P6 Annex to Strategy Report 2017 for Mocambique 2015-2020” Reports by the Swedish Embassy in Maputo, Mozambique

Embassy of Sweden in Maputo & ORGUT Consulting (2015), “Reality Checks Mozambique: Building better understanding of the dynamics of poverty and well-being: Final Report 2011-2015”

Embassy of Sweden in Maputo (2019), “Mozambique Multidimensional Poverty Analysis: Status and Trends”

Electronic Sources

Openaid, “Sweden’s aid to Mozambique via all organisations for all sectors 2019”, https://openaid.se/aid/sweden/mozambique/2019/ (retrieved on 27th of May 2020) Openaid, “Sweden’s aid to the world via all organisations for all sectors 2019”,

https://openaid.se/aid/2019/?fbclid=iwar3qfamktf4vrsy1ow4cibkkdv_tuaaqhlzxutqob4y57az wjv55-aqcwwu (retrieved on 27th of May 2020)

Interview with Urban Lundberg, Associate Professor of History at Stockholm University. Conducted by Joel Westerlund in May of 2019

Appendices

Questionnaire for interview

Please answer those questions which you are capable of answering and disregard the others.

Part 1 – Perspectives on Sweden

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• If we accept the narrative of Sweden being a country set apart from other European nations because it has no significant colonial past, and consider its progressive leftist orientation during the twentieth century, is it accurate to say that Sweden has been an unusually

benevolent cooperation partner in international relations? What are possible arguments for and against the view of Sweden as a particularly ‘good guy’ in international perspective? And should Sweden be viewed as part of the Western political alliance or as a non-aligned, ‘neutral’ country?

• What does Sweden get in return for its commitments in Mozambique? How much can Sweden hope to get in return for what it gives?

• Is there more relevant information in this context which the previous questions have not covered? What will be the future of Sweden’s cooperation with Mozambique?

Part 2 – Perspectives on East and West

• A general trend in international relations research today is the discussion of the rise of China as a challenger to the United States for world hegemony. Accusations are made against China that it is playing unfair and using ‘neo-mercantilist’ strategies to gain power in the rest of the world. What expressions of Chinese expansion are there in Mozambique today and how should they be regarded?

• From an opposite perspective, criticism is continuously made of the Western powers for having already exploited the Third World or ‘Global South’. What can be said about the Western world’s involvement in Mozambique today? Is it self-evident that the West is always playing fair, or is there a grey zone where China and the West have similar morals?

• Researchers say that China is creating its own international institutions because it feels that it can get little done within existing institutions. Hence, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is China’s answer to the World Bank. How does the World Bank and IMF regard this competition and what will it do maintain its own position in international perspective? In what ways will the World Bank and IMF continue to work in Mozambique?

• Is there more relevant information in this context which the previous questions have not covered? Are we witnessing a new cold war between East and West, or is that merely a thing of the past?

Part 3 – Perspectives on Mozambique

• From the perspective of Mozambique, which of all these foreign actors is most preferable to cooperate with? What are the pros and cons of Western and Eastern investments?

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• If Mozambique will prosper in the future, how can democratic institutions try to assure that an increased amount of wealth will benefit the whole population?

• What attempts can be made to create a better socio-economic and political situation for the population of Mozambique?

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Stockholms universitet/Stockholm University SE-106 91 Stockholm

Department of Political Science