Humanitarian actors reframed underdevelopment as domestic failure to defend liberal markets.

Evidence

From its inception, Liberté sans Frontières sought to contest the argument that a ‘new international economic order’ was the solution to underdevelopment. In his introduction to the proceedings of the LSF Colloquium, Brauman argued that the absurd and dangerous NIEO would result in inflation and a transfer of wealth from the poorest to the most favoured individuals and nations. He contended that the NIEO was built on the false premise that the terms of trade between rich and poor countries were deteriorating and that, if implemented, it would lead away from the successful path pursued by Asian countries like South Korea. Looking back more recently, Malhuret reflected that LSF’s founders believed ‘the path taken by the New [International] Economic Order was leading to a dead end’, while countries with liberal economies – the so called ‘Asian Tigers’ – were developing rapidly. The real stake in this attack on the NIEO was defending the efficacy of a liberal economic order against demands for redistribution and state planning. The ‘burden of human error and bad local political decisions, rather than external elements, is the determining factor in a number of tragic situations’, Brauman stressed. — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 423

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to Howse & Teitel and the broader literature on why humanitarian actors aligned with economic liberalism against redistributive demands. — connects to: Humanitarian NGOs helped shift blame for poverty onto Third World states. — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market: Human Rights…, 381; Humanitarians served as moral shield for the free-enterprise counter-attack on redistributive demands — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market: Human Rights…, 438; Humanitarian discourse relocated Third World poverty’s cause from colonialism to state leaders — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market: Human Rights…, 437 (+1 more)
• SEED: Angle: how ‘Asian Tigers’ success was weaponized rhetorically to naturalize liberal economics and blame local politics for poverty — an early instance of the contemporary ‘develop like East Asia’ argument.

Broader Connections

• Humanitarian discourse relocated Third World poverty’s cause from colonialism to state leaders #expands (0.85) — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 437
• Anti-Third-Worldist NGOs redirected blame for poverty onto postcolonial states themselves #corroborates (0.80) — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 391
• Humanitarians served as moral shield for the free-enterprise counter-attack on redistributive demands #corroborates (0.75) — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 438