The Overseas Development Institute from Decolonisation to Decolonising

The British organisation ODI (established as the Overseas Development Institute in 1960) has impacted East African societies longer than any constitution in the region. For generations from its London headquarters, the think tank still influences former colonies' sector-wide policies and budgets, including education. Now, ODI is grappling with its role in perpetuating colonial holdovers in aid. Staff have published narratives on power and privilege, research on locally led development, and grievances about pressure to "bang on about race".

In support of this reflection, this PhD project will generate a contextualised, applicable praxis for decolonising international development by exploring ODI's history in Kenyan and Rwandan education. A comparative case study will illuminate dynamics of policy transfer and spheres of influence across former colonisers and colonies vis-a-vis Kenya's centrality to British educational policy in Africa and Rwanda's transition from a Belgian colony to Commonwealth nation. Framing the study within education can facilitate its nuanced investigation and real-world applicability. With education deployed as a colonial lever of control, centralised global education policy creation and dissemination, the growing discourse on decolonising education curricula and management, and - most importantly - ODI's footprints along this timeline, there are considerable avenues of enquiry. The study will result in new contribution to historical scholarship that reveals hidden colonial holdovers in development practise, the challenges of untangling them, and opportunities for decolonising the way forward.