Liberal norms, colonial sediments: the case of OECD aid statistics

Up until today, rules of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) allow colonial powers to count transfers to remaining overseas territories as official development assistance (ODA). We systematically quantify this under-researched practice of intra-imperial transactions counted as aid—not to be conflated with aid to former colonies—from 1960 to 2022. This quantitative analysis is underpinned by an analysis of the history of the ODA concept and of OECD peer reviews of ODA, which reveal how the inclusion of such transfers in ODA is normalised. To analyse this theoretically, we propose the notion of norm sedimentation, which we define as the naturalised coexistence within an international organisation (IO) of norms that are founded on conflicting or contradictory values. Stemming from different time periods, older (colonial) norms remain valid without their compatibility with current fundamental (liberal) norms claimed by the institution being questioned. The concept of norm sedimentation is particularly useful in studying inert and naturalised norms and hitherto understudied non-liberal norms. The article concludes by discussing the consequences of colonial aid: A normalisation and perpetuating of colonial understandings of the metropoles’ limited responsibilities for their colonial subjects and a boosting—through the inflated aid figures— of the image of major powers as benevolent actors.