The concept and mainstream approaches of development cooperation (DC) have been criticised since the early beginning of their existence. The debate can be divided into a wide-ranging rejection of DC per se on the one hand, and a more liberal critique on the other, encouraging a more efficient DC, for example by adapting the methods used. Post-development (PD) scholars have been criticising international DC since 1990 for both its Western perspective and the lack of reflection on asymmetrical power structures. Whereas PD concepts question the system by criticising the structure of DC or its underlying arguments, the development effectiveness debate is more concerned with improving the system through technical modifications. This demarcation is not clear-cut since both sides have converged over the years, resulting in the general criticism of DC often overlapping with the technical discourse.

Considering that DC increasingly faces various criticisms, we use the PD concept as an approach to investigate to what extent it has the potential to reform DC. Perceiving PD approaches as a starting point for efforts towards change, we position ourselves positively towards the assumption that PD approaches are increasingly being used to systematically reform DC. Our two research questions methodologically assess PD elements and their use, as well as examine their potential for reformation. In this regard we ask (1) to what extent and how elements of PD approaches are reflected in the current policy initiatives of international DC, and (2) what potential do PD approaches have to reform DC. Thereby, we focus on the examination of policy initiatives on a discourse level. We take a closer look at three examples: German feminist development policy (FemDP), the locally led development approach and the global public investment (GPI) concept. Each case brings unique features that serve as the basis for our examination: FemDP as a relatively new idea of transformation, the localisation approach as a long-standing concept that has been implemented for several years and GPI as an approach towards a new concept of international cooperation as a response to the development-effectiveness debate, among others.

By means of a content analysis, four commonly used PD elements were selected to examine whether and how the three policy initiatives acknowledge PD aspects in order to reform DC. To make these aspects applicable in practice, they were partly supplemented with similar concepts: (1) the concept of alternatives to development, (2) pluralism of knowledge and power dynamics, (3) user-centred approaches and a critical stance towards the established scientific discourse and (4) the promotion of grassroots movements and local ownership.

We discovered a variation in the use of the different PD elements: Although aspects related to power relations, decolonial structures and knowledge management are prominent in all three initiatives, elements such as grassroots movements are given less consideration in all three cases. Even though FemDP does not focus on an alternative to development, as defined by PD approaches, it puts a strong emphasis on a transformative approach when it comes to its user-centred empowerment and tackles power imbalances by approaching decolonisation. This leads to the assumption that the efforts of German Development Minister Svenja Schulze do not just describe a rhetorical reorientation but involve actual transformative efforts, even if the actual implementation can only be further analysed with the new FemDP strategy. The locally led development approach in particular seems to be a suitable springboard for the inclusion of local knowledge and grassroots movements, although the question remains whether the transformative ambition will work in practice within the rigid structures of official development assistance1 cooperation. Whereas the locally led approach mostly uses descriptions of change as a means to reach its objectives, the GPI concept in particular uses PD elements as a reformative approach, as per the PD definition, putting the objective of the transformation of international public finance in international cooperation at its centre.

We determine that PD elements have the potential to be used as a reformative approach. Valuing PD approaches, we conclude that they do influence public initiatives in one way or another. If inner-systemic change should become an option, we see the greatest added value for the future if PD scholars succeed in underpinning their approaches with instruments that can be used as tools in DC practice.

For future research, a far-reaching analysis of the PD elements at the implementation level that goes beyond a discourse analysis would be desirable. Second, it is also encouraged to examine the implementation of the two approaches that currently only prevail as ideas or concepts (FemDP and GPI). From a scientific point of view, neither consists of a concrete action plan that is suitable for operationalisation, and neither has been put into practice.