From disaster to development?: The role of the Second World War in shaping Canadian humanitarian aid

DOI10.1177/0020702018812027
Date01 December 2018
Published date01 December 2018
Subject MatterLessons of History
Lessons of History
From disaster to
development?: The role
of the Second World
War in shaping Canadian
humanitarian aid
Jill Campbell-Miller
Department of History, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada
Abstract
War is antithetical to development. Development, for most mainstream observers,
means economic growth, or at least stability, and an increasing quality of life for all,
and it cannot exist in a state of war. Yet official development assistance (ODA), one of
the primary mechanisms by which many governments and civil society organizations
attempt to achieve development in impoverished economies, has a history rooted in
war. This paper will explore how the Second World War and its aftermath influenced
the creation of Canadian ODA and international development NGOs. While Canada’s
aid history is most commonly associated with the Canadian International Development
Agency, examining this earlier period helps contextualize current debates about the
securitization of aid and its harmonization with other aspects of Canadian foreign policy.
Using the Unitarian Service Committee (USC) Canada as a case study, this paper will
also track its transition from a postwar humanitarian relief agency to a mainstream
international development NGO. For Canadian ODA and civil society organizations, the
Second World War shaped the legacy of the postwar aid regime and created lasting
consequences for its operation.
Keywords
Development, Canadian International Development Agency, Colombo Plan, Unitarian
Service Committee, Lotta Hitschmanova
International Journal
2018, Vol. 73(4) 609–622
!The Author(s) 2018
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/0020702018812027
journals.sagepub.com/home/ijx
Corresponding author:
Jill Campbell-Miller, Department of History, Carleton University, 400 Paterson Hall, 1125 Colonel By
Drive, Ottawa, Ontario K1S 5B6, Canada.
Email: jillcampbellmiller@cunet.carleton.ca

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