The Power of Greed: Collective Action in International Development

Jane M. Wilson is a Toronto-based chartered financial analyst.

Many dedicated people have tried unsuccessfully, at great expense, to
improve conditions in less-developed countries. Rosberg not only states
frankly that the biggest impediment to progress is corruption and bad
governance in these states, but baldly asks the question, “Is
something wrong with Third World people?” Developers’ traditional
response has been to focus on social injustice, to blame the rich, and
to convince the target population to abandon their selfish behaviours in
favour of co-operative collective action. According to the author, the
greedy behaviour of target communities dooms this moralistic and
idealistic approach to failure, but these negative behaviours can be
harnessed productively if development projects are redesigned. He has no
illusions about the nobility of the poor; his description of an
archetypal specimen of mean-street low-life in Belize could not be more
cynical.

This is not a quick how-to book for a field operative; it is a fairly
dense discussion of modernization theory. The 20-page introduction by
anthropology professor S.M. Greenfield is a paper in itself. Those
looking for a few concrete examples of development strategies should
skip to the last few chapters.

“Morality Is Blinding Us” is the promising title of the first
chapter. Rosberg himself is blinded by political correctness, blaming
past colonialism, slavery, or present international capitalism for all
greedy, short-term, and self-defeating behaviour in target populations.
That this mantra of shifting blame is a root cause of dysfunction in the
underclasses seems to escape him.

Though the book’s scholarly approach will limit its appeal, it is
still commendable for daring to declare the futility of half a century
of a moralistic development approach. It will be of some assistance to
those designing development projects in poor communities.