Running head: HOW FAR CAN GOOD INTENTIONS GO?

How Far Can Good Intentions Go?

A book review of
Paved with good intentions: Canadas development NGOs from idealism to imperialism
Tiffany Pierce
30020801
University of Calgary
November 21, 2016
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Introduction

Paved with good intentions: Canadas NGOs from idealism to imperialism (herein

referred to as Paved with Good Intentions) by Nikolas Barry-Shaw and Dru Oja Jay is a hard

hitting book that specifically challenges what Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) claim to

do within the international development sector. Through examples from across the globe the

authors build a convincing case that forces the readers to ask, what are the true intentions of

developmental NGOs?

Course Relevance

Paved with Good Intentions discusses how the Global North has historically, and

currently, influenced development in the Global South through the use of NGOs. This directly

relates to our course objectives of understanding the process of development within the context

of the relationship between the Global North and Global South. The book also addresses our

course objective of examining social work in international contexts. One can highlight a

multitude of potential social work jobs throughout the book. It unintentionally emphasizes the

wide variety of jobs that are available on an international scale while simultaneously

emphasizing the importance of thinking critically when considering international work

opportunities.

Summary

This book covers a great deal of information in a relatively short book. Everything from

the definition of development and NGOs to the role that governments play, from the impact in

the Global South to the impact NGOs have here in Canada, from the move to a more militarized

NGO sector to the impacts of youth participation. Due to space restraints I am unable to discuss
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all aspects of this book in detail. This review will focus on discussing the authors, the purpose of

the book, a brief synopsis, the main structure and stylistic aspects, my interpretation of the

ideological lens used, and ultimately my critiques and final recommendation.

Author Credentials

Paved with Good Intentions was written by Nikolas Barry-Shaw and Dru Oja Jay.

Nikolas Barry-Shaw is an independent researcher who lives in Montreal and is a founder, along

with his co-author, of Action Haiti Montreal. Dru Oja Jay is also based in Montreal and is a

writer, co-author, an editor of the Dominion and a long-time solidarity activist. In addition to the

previously mentioned experiences, both authors became active advocates for Haiti after the 2004

coup detat of the democratically elected government. Their curiosity about what was truly

happening in Haiti resulted in a great deal of research and ultimately led them to support Haitians

in restoring their democratic government. Despite their efforts the two found that they were

consistently shut down or ignored by politicians and media when they questioned the human

rights abuses and injustices that the Haitian people were experiencing. When the authors turned

to other NGOs that highlighted commitment to democracy for assistance and were rejected, they

could not understand the lack of support until they began to look closer into the funding of

various NGOs. This led the two to further question what role the NGOs were playing, and for

who, which resulted in further research, and, ultimately to write this book.

I respect that both authors have a history of previous research and activism. This, in

addition to their personal experiences resulted in a well-developed book. A great deal of their

stories are a result of their personal experience with NGOs while working to support Haiti.

Although I find that this adds to the book I also recognize that they are writing the book from the
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perspective of their largely negative experiences which has the potential to construct a bias

throughout the book.

Purpose

The purpose of the book, as stated by the authors, is to contribute to Canadas ability to

make critical and politically aware choices about development NGOs (Barry-Shaw, & Oja Jay,

2012, p. 12) In addition to this, the authors aim to expose the fact that governments actually play

a large role in these organizations as a result of controlling funding. By exposing this fact, the

authors intend to bring awareness to a darker, less-known, side of NGOs. Ultimately, they had

one point to make, the fact that in reality, NGOs do more harm than good (Barry-Shaw, & Oja

Jay, 2012, p. 246) The authors were immensely successful in this purpose, to the point that it was

actually a disheartening read. The information, statistics, and examples given truly evoked

intense critical thinking about organizations that are developed to help other countries. It left

me feeling deflated and almost cynical towards my chosen profession but it succeeded in its

intended goals of raising awareness and conjuring critical thinking.

Structure and Writing Style

The book was laid out in a logical manner. The authors start with a hard-hitting, interest

catching story that highlighted Canadian NGO involvement in a highly politicized situation in

Haiti which assisted in the transition to the introduction conveying the complexity of the issue at

hand as they attempt to define both NGOs and development in general. The authors then give a

brief history of NGOs and the history that led to the quick growth of NGOs throughout the

world. The book then moves into the more complicated political discussions surrounding NGOs
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which touches on various social and political impacts that NGOs have influenced in both the

Global South and Canada.

Throughout Paved with Good Intentions the authors ensured to write in a way that not

only assisted them in the emphasis of the books purpose, but also ensured the readers attention.

The authors provided engaging stories and scenarios with a high shock value to catch readers

attention and the events described are then validated with citations. The preface of the book is a

good example of this style where Barry-Shaw and Oja Jay describe the brutal coup detat of 2004

in Haiti and the aggressive role Canada played in supporting it.

Although I found the inclusion of these stories to be an integral part of why the book was

such an interesting read, I also found the addition of these detailed recounts to be confusing at

times. Each story could have been detailed in a book of its own and it took a great deal of effort

to fully understand the implications of each unique situation, how it related to the chapter, and

how it added to the book as a whole. Despite requiring additional attention to details in some

sections, the authors managed to take a potentially boring informative book filled with facts and

statistics regarding NGOs into an interesting, engaging book that truly captures the readers

attention.

Critique

Ideological Perspective and Methodology

Throughout the book the authors maintain a post-neoliberal lens where they argue that

the implementation of neoliberal ideology is largely at fault for the negative impact of NGOs.

Examples of this belief were found throughout the book with the start of the second chapter

being a quote from Arundhati Roy; Theyre what botanists would call an indicator species. The
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greater the devastation caused by neoliberalism, the greater the outbreak of NGOs. (Barry-

Shaw, & Oja Jay, 2012, p. 16) This set the tone for the book and made the beliefs of the authors

obvious. They argue that the development and emphasis of the use of NGOs supported the shift

away from state-led assistance that is typical of neoliberal reform. (Barry-Shaw, & Oja Jay,

2012, p. 17) The authors also make a case for a fact that media has played a large role in

ensuring the popularity of NGOs and the good work that they are doing. This leads to

continued funding and support which, in turn, assists in supporting their neoliberal agenda

because this view of NGOs allows them to maintain their positive view in the common public.

According to the authors, NGOs have been a tool of deliberate strategy of Western donors to

dampen popular opposition of the move to neoliberalism (Barry-Shaw, & Oja Jay, 2012, p. 88).

For example, in Bangladesh NGOs were encouraged by donors to implement microcredit

programs instead of attempting to organize and empower the poor population. As foreign funders

were directing millions of dollars towards the development of microcredit programs, NGOs who

were competing for said funds were forced to implement similar projects which resulted in a

dramatic change in the development priorities for Bangladesh NGOs. In 1985 there were only 13

NGOs that were involved in the lending of microcredits, but that more than quadrupled in 1990

as 59 organizations main focus were microcredits, and today, almost all of the 2000 NGOs in

Bangladesh are involved in microfinance in one aspect or another. (Barry-Shaw, & Oja Jay,

2012, p. 108)

Not only do the authors highlight how NGOs are used as tools to implement the

governments neoliberal agenda, they also criticize the apolitical stance NGOs are forced to take

as a result of neoliberalism. They argue that development cannot be viewed in an apolitical lens

because solely viewing the humanitarian aspect of poverty eclipses the fact that poverty is not a
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problem that can be addressed independently of broader structural social problems. In the book

it is made clear that NGOs are being forced to remain apolitical. The authors highlight several

instances where NGOs lost, or were at risk of losing their funding as a result of their political

stances. This has resulted in an intense censorship and depoliticization of NGOs. The authors

argue that this is the main problem of non-governmental organizations.

What I found to be most convincing is also what I found to be least convincing

throughout the book. The authors provided a great deal of information regarding the ineffective

and harmful work of NGOs it was not difficult to understand their point of view and reasoning

for speaking up against NGOs. At the same time though, when such an extreme view is

presented from one side of an argument it inherently makes me question and consider the

opposing position as well. Although it may have been slightly counterproductive for the authors

to include well functioning NGOs it might have had the potential to encourage people further to

consider and research organizations before making donations or working for them instead of

scaring people away from involvement all together.

Critiques - Gaps and Biases

One main critique I had of this book was the broad range of information it included. The

array of topics discussed included everything from the inherent ideological influence of

neoliberalism on NGOs, the social impact NGOs had on development in the South, the political

implications of funding and governmental involvement, the role that youth play, the impact of

NGOs in Canada, and those are only a few of the topics discussed. Each of these topics could

have been a book themselves. As a result, the information contained within was quite

overwhelming. Although this added to the depth of the argument interesting and dynamic, one
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chapter was hardly adequate to describe many of these situations and resulted in a slightly

disconnected flow of the book.

Although a specific methodology for obtaining their information was not stated it was

evident that there was a great deal of research conducted. One has to admire the extent of

research that was put into the book, there are several pages of references cited for each chapter

that span from books to journal articles, to speeches, newspaper articles, magazines, government

reports and website information. That being said, a second critique I have is regarding the

validity of some of these resources. Are articles from The Globe and Mail and The Washington

Post based on facts or opinions, what are the ideological perspectives and intentions of the

publishers at Forbes magazine?

One gap that was evident throughout the book was solely highlighting NGOs as negative

influences throughout the world. Although I understand that the intention of the book was to

emphasize the negative impacts, I feel the authors would have benefitted from noting some

locally driven efforts that did see positive results. This would have highlighted further the need

for communities to be involved in their own development efforts.

Another gap was that the authors also only provided a sole solution, solidarity activism.

Oja Jay and Shaw call for a movement that is unabashedly political in nature which would be a

direct contrast to NGOs that are often required to remain entirely apolitical in order to receive

funding. Apart from highlighting the importance and necessity of becoming active in solidarity

activism the authors did not provide any alternatives or suggestions for actions to improve the

current situation.
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Conclusion

Although emotionally challenging and disheartening at times, I overall enjoyed this book.

It bypassed the common rhetoric that surrounds NGOs and provided readers with an in-depth

perspective regarding the actual impact of NGOs. In my opinion the book was highly successful

in its goal of encouraging critical and politically aware thinking regarding NGOs and they type

of impact theyre actually making.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone. I believe this read to be of particular

importance for those who intend to work internationally because it emphasizes the importance of

reflexivity and continuously thinking critically when working in international settings to ensure

that the work you are doing is having the intended impact. I found this book to be an exceptional

example of the need to follow the money for answers regarding an organizations political

stance.
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References

Barry-Shaw, N., & Oja Jay, D. (2012). Paved with good intentions: Canada's development

NGOs from idealism to imperialism. Halifax: Fernwood Pub.