Publications on Development by the Geneva Graduate Institute
https://doi.org/10.71609/iheid-n8ed-za89NOTABLE BOOK SERIES BY THE IUED OR THE GENEVA GRADUATE INSTITUTE
(1) Annuaire suisse de politique de développement /Schweizerisches Jahrbuch für Entwicklungspolitik
https://journals.openedition.org/aspd/55 (French archive, with more than 700 original articles)
https://journals.openedition.org/sjep/ (German archive, with more than 700 original articles)
This series of yearbooks (1981–2008, in French and German) focuses its analysis at the intersection of global issues (such as environment, migration, and security), North–South relations (including development cooperation, global trade, and international finance), and Swiss public policy. At its core are Switzerland’s cooperation policies and humanitarian aid — both bilateral and multilateral — towards countries in the South and East. This perspective is further enriched by analyses of national debates that shape North–South relations, including legislation on asylum and migration, money laundering, corruption, mutual legal assistance, as well as environmental protection.
Read, for example:
Efionayi-Mäder, Denise, Gérard Perroulaz and Catherine Schümperli Younossian (eds), (2008) Migration et développement: les enjeux d’une relation controversée, Annuaire suisse de politique de développement, 27-2, https://doi.org/10.4000/aspd.159
Tschumi Canosa, Xavier, and Thania Paffenholz (2006) Paix et sécurité: les défis lancés à la coopération internationale, Annuaire suisse de politique de développement, 25-2, https://doi.org/10.4000/aspd.242
(2) International Development Policy |Revue internationale de politique de développement
https://journals.openedition.org/poldev (over 400 peer-reviewed articles in open access)
Serving as a bridge between the research community, policymakers, and practitioners, this multilingual publication features original contributions from authors in the Global North and South. Development policies are examined not only from a discursive and strategic perspective but also through their implementation and evaluation.
Read, for example:
Carbonnier, Gilles, Fritz Brugger, Elisabeth Bürgi Bonanomi, Fred M. Dzanku and Sthabandith Insisienmay (eds) (2024) Missing Dollars: Illicit Financial Flows from Commodity Trade, International Development Policy | Revue internationale de politique de développement, 17 (Geneva, Boston: Graduate Institute Publications, Brill-Nijhoff), https://doi.org/10.4000/11q9e
Buxton, Julia, Mary Chinery-Hesse and Khalid Tinasti (eds) (2020) Drug Policies and Development: Conflict and Coexistence, International Development Policy series No.12 (Graduate Institute Publications, Brill-Nijhoff), https://doi.org/10.4000/poldev.3408
(3) Les Cahiers de l’IUED | Les Nouveaux Cahiers de l’IUED
https://books.openedition.org/iheid/1690 (in French, archives in open access — 37 issues published from 1975 to 2004).
The Cahiers de l’IUED (1975–1993) and the Nouveaux Cahiers de l’IUED (1994–2004) reflect the Institute’s engagement in research and debates on development alongside other academic institutions. These publications offer a critical perspective on development in the contemporary world, grounded in an analytical approach that seeks to unmask and demystify dominant discourses and seemingly transparent — or opaque — responses. They also promote a pluralistic framework of inquiry, highlighting power dynamics that, shaped by historical transformations, have at times faded from view. Published by Presses Universitaires de France.
Read, for example:
Rist, Gilbert (dir.), (2002) Les mots du pouvoir: Sens et non-sens de la rhétorique internationale (Institut universitaire d’études du développement), https://books.openedition.org/iheid/2443
Rist, Gilbert (dir.) (1997) La mondialisation des anti-société: Espaces rêvés et lieux communs (Institut universitaire d’études du développement), https://books.openedition.org/iheid/2765
Maurer, Jean-Luc, Dominique Perrot, Yvonne Preiswerk, Gilbert Rist, Fabrizio Sabelli, and Jacques Vallet (dir.) (1984) Crise et chuchotements: Interrogations sur la pertinence d’un concept dominant (Presses Universitaires de France; Institut d’études du développement), https://books.openedition.org/iheid/3357
Brawand, Antoine, Danielle Provansal, Fabrizio Sabelli, and Laurence Wilhelm (dir.) (1975) La pluralité des mondes: Théories et pratiques du développement (Presses Universitaires de France;Institut d’études du développement), https://books.openedition.org/iheid/3941
Bungener Pierre (dir.) (1975) Le savoir et le faire: Relations interculturelles et développement (Presses Universitaires de France; Institut d’études du développement), https://books.openedition.org/iheid/3913
(4) Series “DéveloppementS”
https://www.karthala.com/5-nos-ouvrages-par-collection?q=Cat%C3%A9gories-D%C3%A9veloppementS (15 books in French published from 2006 to 2024)
Co-published with Karthala, this series has contributed to bringing the research findings of emerging scholars to a wider audience. It aims to shed light on the key issues and contemporary challenges of the complex and multifaceted field of “development”.
Read, for example
Beuret, Jean-Eudes, et Daniel Fino (2009) Aide au développement et conflit armé au Burundi: Pourquoi rester, comment agir?
Muttenzer, Frank (2010) Déforestation et droit coutumier à Madagascar: les perceptions des acteurs de la gestion communautaire des forêts.
(5) Cahiers genre et développement
https://books.openedition.org/iheid/5191 (14 multilingual books in open access published from 2000 to 2023)
Co-published with L’Harmattan, this book series focuses on specific thematic issues. Each volume brings together key reference materials and articles exploring the concept of gender and its application to the analysis of development. The series aims to promote gender as an essential analytical tool and to integrate diverse feminist perspectives into development theory. While not designed as textbooks, these volumes offer a curated selection of accessible resources in the field of gender and development studies.
Read, for example
Verschuur, Christine (dir.) (2019) Savoirs féministes au Sud (Graduate Institute Publications; L’Harmattan), https://doi.org/10.4000/books.iheid.7378
Verschuur, Christine, and Fenneke Reysoo (dir.) (2005) Genre, nouvelle division internationale du travail et migrations (Graduate Institute Publications; L’Harmattan). https://doi.org/10.4000/books.iheid.5689
SELECTION OF NOTABLE WORKS PUBLISHED OUTSIDE THE IUED AND THE GENEVA GRADUATE INSTITUTE
Bungener, Pierre (1978) Le développement insensé: Itinéraires pour un combat (L’Âge d’Homme)
Preiswerk, Roy (1984) À contre-courant: L’enjeu des relations interculturelles (Éditions d’en bas)
Rist, Gilbert, et Fabrizio Sabelli (dir.) (1986) Il était une fois le développement… (Éditions d’en bas)
Perrot, Marie-Dominique, Gilbert Rist et Fabrizio Sabelli (dir.) (1992) La mythologie programmée: L’économie des croyances dans la société moderne (Presses Universitaires de France)
George, Susan, and Fabrizio Sabelli (1994) Faith and Credit: The World Bank’s Secular Empire (Penguin Books, translated into 8 languages)
Rist, Gilbert (1996) Le développement: Histoire d’une croyance occidentale (1st French ed., Presses de Sciences Po; (2003) The History of Development: From Western Origins to Global Faith (expanded edition, 1st English ed.)
Comeliau, Christian (2000) Les impasses de la modernité: Critique de la marchandisation du monde (Seuil)
Étienne, Gilbert (2003) Le développement à contre-courant (Presses de Sciences Po)
Grinevald, Jacques (2007) La biosphère de l’Anthropocène: Climat et pétrole, la double menace – Repères transdisciplinaires 1824-2007 (Georg)
Schümperli Younossian, Catherine (2007) La politique suisse de solidarité internationale: De la coopération au développement global (EPFL Press)
Monsutti, Alessandro (2018) Homo itinerans: La planète des Afghans (Presses Universitaires de France), https://shs.cairn.info/homo-itinerans–9782130801238
Forster, Jacques (2023) Coopération Nord-Sud: La solidarité à l’épreuve (coffret 3 tomes, Livreo-Alphil)
Tome 1 (2021): L’émergence du tiers monde, 1919-1982
Tome 2 (2021): Le monde en développement, 1982-2019
Tome 3 (2023): Le monde sous tension
Electronic reference
Galvin, Marc. “Publications on Development by the Geneva Graduate Institute.” Global Challenges, no. 19, May 2026. URL: https://globalchallenges.ch/issue/19/publications-geneva-graduate-institute-development. DOI: https://doi.org/10.71609/iheid-n8ed-za89.This issue of Global Challenges has been jointly produced by the Geneva Graduate Institute’s Research Office and the Geneva Graduate Institute’s Executive Education department, especially the Development Policies and Practices (DPP) team.
GRAPH | Sovereign Borrowing by Instrument Type
Source: Mark Manger et al., Africa’s Domestic Debt Boom: Evidence from the African Debt Database (CEPR Discussion Paper no. 20747, CEPR Press, 2025), p. 23, https://cepr.org/publications/dp20747.
BOX | The African Debt Database
Elaborated by an international team of researchers from the Geneva Graduate Institute — including Prof. Ugo Panizza and Dr Ka Lok Wong — as well as from the Global Sovereign Advisory, the Kiel Institute, the UN Economic Commission for Africa, and the Universities Aix Marseille and Toronto, the African Debt Database (ADD) is the first comprehensive database of African debt.
Building on a new, comprehensive dataset that traces both domestic and external debt instruments across Africa at a granular level, its main innovation is a “detailed mapping of Africa’s domestic debt markets, drawing on rich, new data extracted from government auction reports and bond prospectuses”.
Learn more about the project and read the report.
Research Office, Geneva Graduate Institute
BOX | Definitions of Development Aid
Development
The term “development” as used in the concept of development aid is far from having a universally accepted definition. A consensual definition considers that the concept of development refers to the set of technical, social, territorial, demographic, and cultural transformations accompanying the growth of material production or the improvement of human living conditions. It reflects the structural and qualitative aspects of growth and can be associated with the idea of economic and social progress. For Gilbert Rist, nevertheless, development is not an objective or universal process, but a collective belief, a “Western myth” that serves to legitimise the intervention of Northern countries in Southern societies. He defines it as a modern ideology, based on the idea of progress, which masks relations of domination and perpetuates forms of dependency.
Official Development Assistance (ODA)
Official development assistance (ODA) — or Aide publique au développement (APD) in French — is government aid that promotes and specifically targets the economic development and welfare of developing countries. ODA has been the main source of financing for development aid since it was adopted by the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) as the “gold standard” of foreign aid in 1969. The DAC sets eligibility criteria, statistical rules, and principles of cooperation.
Human Development
Human development grew out of global discussions on the links between economic growth and development during the second half of the 20th century. By the early 1960s there were increasingly loud calls to “dethrone” GDP: economic growth had emerged as both a leading objective, and indicator, of national progress in many countries, even though GDP was never intended to be used as a measure of wellbeing. In the 1970s and 80s, development debate considered using alternative focuses to go beyond GDP, including putting greater emphasis on employment, followed by redistribution with growth, and then whether people had their basic needs met. These ideas helped pave the way for the human development approach, which is about expanding the richness of human life, rather than simply the richness of the economy in which human beings live. It is an approach that is focused on creating fair opportunities and choices for all people.
Sustainable Development
Sustainable development is “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”, a quote from Gro Harlem Brundtland, Prime Minister of Norway (1987). In 1992, the Earth Summit in Rio, held under the auspices of the United Nations, formalised the concept of sustainable development and its three pillars (economic, ecological, and social): development that is economically efficient, socially equitable, and ecologically sustainable.
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are eight goals adopted in 2000 in New York (United States) as part of the United Nations Millennium Declaration by 193 member states of the UN and at least 23 international organisations, which agreed to achieve them by 2015. These goals address major humanitarian challenges: reducing extreme poverty and child mortality, combating several epidemics including AIDS, ensuring access to education, promoting gender equality, and advancing sustainable development. In 2015, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were published, succeeding these goals.
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
The term “Sustainable Development Goals” (SDGs) is commonly used to refer to the 17 goals established by the member states of the United Nations and set forth in the 2030 Agenda. This agenda, adopted by the United Nations in September 2015 following two years of negotiations involving both governments and civil society, sets out 169 targets to be achieved by 2030, common to all participating countries and divided into 17 SDGs.
Research Office – Geneva Graduate Institute
TABLE | Trends in Global Development Assistance Volumes (1960–2025)
| Year | Global ODA volume (in billions of USD, constant 2023 prices) | Historical Context |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | ~ 40 | Start of OECD statistics; rise of post-colonial bilateral programs |
| 1970 | ~ 60 | UN commitment to 0.7% of GNI; expansion of bilateral agencies. |
| 1980 | ~ 85 | Peak linked to the Cold War and concessional loans; prior to the debt crisis. |
| 1990 | ~ 105 | End of the Cold War; shift toward governance and structural reform |
| 2000 | ~ 95 | Relative decline; launch of the MDGs and start of debt relief initiatives. |
| 2005 | ~ 130 | Impact of debt cancellations (HIPC) and the Paris Declaration. |
| 2010 | ~ 150 | Stabilization following the financial crisis; rise in humanitarian aid. |
| 2015 | ~ 160 | Adoption of the SDGs; expansion of funded sectors. |
| 2020 | ~ 185 | Increase linked to global crises (climate, migration, pandemics). |
| 2023 | ~ 223 | Historical high; sharp increase in humanitarian aid and concessional loans. |
| 2024 | ~ 212 | Beginning of the cuts |
| 2025 | ~ 174 | With, 23.1% decrease over 2024, it is the largest annual contraction on record and a second consecutive year of decline. |
Data: OECD (International Development Statistics); Our World in Data (ODA, constant 2023 USD).
BOX | What Is Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development (PCSD)?
The OECD defines PCSD as “an approach and policy tool that supports the integration of the economic, social, environmental, and governance dimensions of sustainable development across all stages of policymaking, facilitating integrated approaches”, including aid, trade, agriculture, finance, investment, taxation, and other relevant policy domains.
PODCAST | The End of Development? A View from Georgia, with Nana Tsertsvadze
Research Office, Geneva Graduate Institute.
PODCAST | The End of Development? A View from Mozambique, with Milton Saranga
Research Office, Geneva Graduate Institute.
PODCAST | La fin du développement? Une vue du Mali, avec Mamedi Thera
Research Office, Geneva Graduate Institute.
PODCAST | El fin del desarrollo? Perspectiva desde Honduras, con Claudia Calderon
Research Office, Geneva Graduate Institute.
VIDEO | Development Policies and Practices Programme | 20 Years Documentary
DPP, Geneva Graduate Institute.
VIDEO | «Coopération Nord-Sud: la solidarité à l’épreuve» | Présentation du livre de Jacques Forster
Research Office. Geneva Graduate Institute.
VIDEO | Rethinking Development: Toward Collective Stewardship of Our Shared Future, with Agi Veres, Director of the UNDP Office in Geneva, and Marie-Laure Salles
Research Office, Geneva Graduate Institute
PODCAST | L’aide au développement et la Fédération genevoise de coopération (FGC), avec Catherine Schümperli et Dominique Rossier
Research Office, Geneva Graduate Institute