International Development Buzzwords: Understanding Their Use Among Donors, NGOs, and Academics

Scholars and practitioners of international development often note the use of ‘development buzzwords’: terms that represent hot topics in the field. Buzzwords characterise a development issue and imply elements of possible solutions. This article analyses the prevalence of these words in development discourse, asking who among donors, major nongovernmental organisations (NGOs), or academics adopts buzzwords earliest and uses them the most. We also analyse how these actors use buzzwords–whether buzzwords represent new ideas or essentially repackage old concepts. The article compares the prevalence of buzzwords among three bodies of text published since 1990: social science journal articles on NGOs; World Bank annual reports; and the annual reports of BRAC, Save the Children, and World Vision. Using topic modelling and keyword searches, we trace how the terms ‘reproductive health,’ ‘gender,’ ‘participatory development,’ and ‘accountability’ ebbed and flowed over these literatures. We find suggestive evidence against ‘donor-driven development’: buzzwords appear first in academic literature and the annual reports of NGOs, followed by the World Bank. We also find evidence that international conferences and emergent health crises influence buzzword use. We conclude that buzzwords’ function and fates vary, with some losing priority, others losing substance, and yet others persisting as multivalent concepts.