Like many countries in the region Lesotho has received countless development interventions from international organizations and industrialized countries, all of which have resulted in varying degrees of failure in achieving their own objectives. Ferguson discusses both the reasons for these failures and the actual outcomes of the projects in his article “The Anti-Politics Machine”. Organizations such as the World Bank characterize the country as an isolated, subsistence based society, a picture contradicted by the actual situation. This leads to a fundamental lack of understanding of the political and social dynamics in the region which can be seen in the example of an attempt to “modernize” livestock; aid workers became frustrated by local resistance to their ideas but what they failed to understand is the role livestock play within the Basotho’s already-monetized society. Livestock is both a symbol of prestige and a sort of safety net for when other resources run low; exporting livestock is seen as a last resort and thus not generally desired.
Ferguson then discusses the actual outcomes of development projects and clearly explains their flaws. The livestock project, while an overall failure, resulted in a road being built in the area connecting it to the capital and extending government influence. Development agencies attempt to be apolitical but by taking politics out of development they implicitly legitimize the state, extending administrative power and suppressing political opposition. It is important to question the motives and viewpoints of development programs, especially when touted as apolitical. While Ferguson advises caution on supporting these programs that does not mean to do nothing; he reminds us that one of the most important ways to be engaged is within our own society.
- Ferguson, James with Larry Lohman. “The Anti-Politics Machine “Development” and Bureaucratic Power in Lesotho”
From The Ecologist, vol. 24, no. 5 (1994):176–181.