Decolonisation of knowledge: Exploring the decolonisation of development cooperation evaluation

• Autor(a) principal: Coelho, Ana Rita
• Data de Publicação: 2023
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10071/30202
• topic: Decolonisation of knowledge; Development cooperation; Decolonial evaluation; Descolonização do conhecimento; Cooperação para o desenvolvimento; Avaliação descolonial

This thesis aims to clarify whether the colonial dynamics of knowledge production extend to development cooperation evaluation, namely development project and programme evaluations, by building upon the widely discussed relation of knowledge production to colonisation in the scientific literature, as well as the established connection of development studies and colonisation. Furthermore, the thesis will present examples of methodologies and techniques to assist the decolonisation process in the evaluation sphere, aiming an active understanding of what links colonisation to development cooperation evaluation and how it can be delinked. Chapter 1 of this thesis delineates the theoretical framework, where the concepts of colonisation and decolonisation come to play in the knowledge production sphere. Subsequently, Chapter 2 will explore the colonisation present in the field of development cooperation, specifically in development cooperation evaluation. Chapter 3 will detail how decolonisation may be achieved in the development cooperation evaluation. The dissertation concludes that, despite the historically colonial undertones of the development cooperation field, it is imperative to implement decolonisation methodologies and strategies through development cooperation evaluation. The adoption of decolonial evaluation methodologies and strategies should challenge the existing power dynamics within the field, being essential to ensure a just and equitable evaluation process, that can improve the development cooperation altogether.