Professor Peter Blunt

Professor Peter Blunt

Honorary Professor
UNSW Canberra
School of Business

Peter Blunt’s experience encompasses 25 years of university research, teaching and scholarship and more than 25 years as a consultant specialising in governance, public sector management and questions of political economy in developing countries. He was Foundation Chair of Business and Professor of Management at Charles Darwin University (1990-2000) and before then had held tenured full professorships at the University of Nordland (Norway) and Cardiff University (UK).
He has also held a senior staff position with the World Bank in Jakarta, as Programme Manager of the multi-donor Decentralisation Support Facility (2008-2012). And from 2012 to 2014, he was Governance Programme Manager for the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation in Mongolia. He has consulted for agencies such as the World Bank, UNDP, ADB, AusAID/DFAT, DFID, SDC, and Sida in more than 30 countries, including 8 fragile states.
He is widely published on aspects of management and governance in developing and developed countries. His commissioned publications for UNDP (New York) on governance and public sector management formed the basis of UNDP policy on these matters and have been well received in many countries around the world. In recent years, his research and writing has become more concerned with critical analyses of the motivations of development assistance and its underlying ideology of neoliberalism and their sometimes damaging consequences for state sovereignty and equitable and sustainable development. This grew out of his earlier criticisms of other forms of ideological imperialism concerned, for example, with notions of good governance and leadership and consulting practice.
He has served on the editorial boards of The Journal of Applied Behavioural Science; Journal of Contemporary African Studies; International Journal of Human Resource Management; and Public Administration and Development and has refereed papers for 21 peer-reviewed journals and five commercial book publishers.
From September 2016 to September 2021, he was Programme Team Leader of the Samoa Governance Support Programme funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Government of Australia.
Selected Publications – Books
1. Blunt, P. (with C. Escobar & V. Missos) (2023). The Political Economy of Bilateral Aid: Implications for Global Development. London: Routledge, pp. 192.

2. Blunt, P. (with M. Jones) (2011 - reprint in hard cover and eBook of 1992 edition). Managing Organisations in Africa. Berlin & New York: Walter de Gruyter, pp. 356 & xiv. Chapter 2 reprinted in Hickson, D.J. (Ed.) (1997). Exploring Management across the World: Selected Readings. London: Penguin Books.

3. Blunt, P. (with D. Rondinelli) (1997). Reconceptualising Governance. New York: Department of Public Affairs, UNDP, pp. 93 & xi. http://www.pogar.org/publications/other/undp/governance/reconceptualizing.pdf
4. Blunt, P. (with D.M. Warren) (Eds.) (1996). Indigenous Organisations and Development. London: Intermediate Technology Publications, pp. 253 & xv.
5. Blunt, P. (1995b). Public Sector Management, Governance and Sustainable Human Development. New York: Department of Public Affairs, UNDP, pp. 130 & xxvi. Reprinted twice in 1996.
6. Blunt, P. (with M. Jones & D. Richards) (1993b). Managing Organisations in Africa: Readings, Cases, and Exercises. Berlin & New York: Walter de Gruyter, pp. 219 & xii.
7. Blunt, P. (with D. Richards) (Eds.) (1993a). Readings in Management, Organisation and Culture in East and South East Asia. Darwin: Northern Territory University Press, pp. 371 & xi.
8. Blunt, P. (1986). Human Resource Management. Melbourne: Longman Cheshire, pp. 275 & vii. This book appeared in the Longman Cheshire series entitled Australian Management Studies.
9. Blunt, P. (1985). Personnel Management in Africa. London and New York: Longman, pp. 212 & xii. Second edition published in March 1990.
10. Blunt, P. (1983). Organisational Theory and Behaviour: An African Perspective. London & New York: Longman, pp. 195 & xii. Reprinted 1984, 1985.
Selected Publications – Articles

Blunt, P. (with C. Escobar & V. Missos) (2023). The Political Economy of Bilateral Aid: African Development and the Manufacture of Consent. Africa Journal of Management, 9(1), 1-19.

Blunt, P. (2021). Development Undone: Weber, Kafka, and the Organisation of Supply-Side Vested Interests. Journal of Interdisciplinary Economics, 33(1), 74-102.

Blunt, P. (2018). Varoufakis versus Europe’s Deep Establishment: ‘Frail Deeds’, Apologias, and a Battle Lost before it was Begun. Journal of Interdisciplinary Economics, 30(2), 210-225.

Blunt, P. (with F. Mamundzay, & M. Nasary) (2017). The Long and the Short of Policy Pantomime in Afghanistan. Progress in Development Studies, 17(1), pp. 67-88. Shortlisted for best article of the year 2017 - Prize Winning Papers in honour of Robert Potter.
2. Blunt, P. (with S. Khamoosh) (2016). Vexatious Voice: The Politics of Downward Accountability and Subnational Governance Reform in Afghanistan. Progress in Development Studies, 16(1), 81-100. Shortlisted for best article of the year 2016 - Prize Winning Papers in honour of Robert Potter.
3. Blunt, P. (with Ganbaatar Sainkhuu) (2015b). Serendipity and Stealth, Resistance and Retribution: Policy Development in the Mongolian Mining Sector. Progress in Development Studies, 15(4), 371-385.
4. Blunt, P. (with F. Mamundzay, N. Yama, & H. Afghan) (2015a). Policy Paradigms, Subnational Governance, and the State Sovereignty Gap in Afghanistan. Progress in Development Studies, 15(3), 270-285. Shortlisted for best article of the year 2015 - Prize Winning Papers in honour of Robert Potter.
5. Blunt, P. (2014). Whose Resources are they anyway? Community Development Agreements in the Mongolian Mining Sector. Progress in Development Studies, 14(4), 383-399.
6. Blunt, P. (with M. Turner & H. Lindroth) (2013). Morton’s Fork: ‘Democracy’ versus Neopatrimonialism in Developing Countries. International Journal of Public Administration, 36(1), 45-62.
7. Blunt, P. (2012d). Toxic Technical Assistance in Conditions of State Fragility: Field Notes from Iraq. Progress in Development Studies, 12(4), 337-352.
8. Blunt, P. (with H. Lindroth) (2012c). Development’s Denial of Social Justice. International Journal of Public Administration, 35(7), 471-481.
9. Blunt, P. (with M. Turner & H. Lindroth) (2012b). Patronage, Service Delivery and Social Justice in Indonesia. International Journal of Public Administration, 35(3), 214-220.
10. Blunt, P. (with M. Turner & H. Lindroth) (2012a). Patronage’s Progress in Post-Soeharto Indonesia. Public Administration and Development, 32(1), 64-81.
11. Blunt, P. (with M. Turner & J. Hertz) (2011). The Meaning of Development Assistance. Public Administration and Development, 31 (3), 172-187.
12. Blunt, P. (2009). The Political Economy of Accountability in Timor-Leste: Implications for Public Policy. Public Administration and Development, 29 (2), 89-100
13. Blunt, P. (with M. Turner) (2007). Decentralisation, Deconcentration and Poverty Reduction in the Asia Pacific. In S. Cheema & D. Rondinelli (Eds.), Decentralized Governance: Emerging Concepts and Practices. Brookings Institution Press and the Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation, John F.K. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, pp. 115-130.
14. Blunt, P. (with M. Turner) (2005). Decentralisation, Democracy and Development in a Post-Conflict State: Commune Councils in Cambodia. Public Administration and Development, 25 (1), pp. 75-87.
15. Blunt, P. (2003). Governance Conditions, Roles and Capacity Building Needs in the Rebel-Held Areas of Southern Sudan. Public Administration and Development, 23(1), pp. 125-139.
16. Blunt, P. (with M. Jones) (1999). Twinning as a Method of Sustainable Institutional Capacity Building. Public Administration and Development, 19(4), pp. 381-402.
17. Blunt, P. (1997b). Prisoners of the Paradigm: Process Consultants and ‘Clinical’ Development Practitioners. Public Administration and Development, 17, pp. 341-349.
18. Blunt, P. (with M. Jones) (1997a). Exploring the Limits of Western Leadership Theory in East Asia and Africa. Personnel Review, 26(1/2), pp. 6-23.
19. Blunt, P. (with M. Jones & K. Sharma) (1996a). Managerial Perceptions of Leadership and Management in an African Public Service Organisation. Public Administration and Development, 16, pp. 455-476. .
20. Blunt, P. (1995b). Cultural Relativism, ‘Good’ Governance and Sustainable Human Development. Public Administration and Development, 15(1), pp. 1-9.

 

  • Books | 2022
    Blunt P, 2022, The political economy of bilateral aid: Implications for global development, http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781003284352
  • Journal articles | 2023
    Blunt P; Escobar C; Missos V, 2023, 'The political economy of bilateral aid_ African development and the manufacture of consent', Africa Journal of Management, 9, pp. 1 - 19, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23322373.2022.2155022
    Journal articles | 2022
    Blunt P; Escobar C; Missos V, 2022, 'Emergency Responses Under COVID-19: Development Assistance, ‘Structural Violence’, and ‘Interpretive Labour’ in Samoa', Journal of Interdisciplinary Economics, http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/02601079221121903
    Journal articles | 2021
    Blunt P, 2021, 'Development Undone: Weber, Kafka and the Organisation of Supply-Side Vested Interests', Journal of Interdisciplinary Economics, 33, pp. 74 - 102, http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0260107919896879
    Journal articles | 2018
    Blunt P, 2018, 'Varoufakis Versus Europe’s Deep Establishment: ‘Frail Deeds’, Apologias and a Battle Lost Before It Was Begun', Journal of Interdisciplinary Economics, 30, pp. 210 - 225, http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0260107918769124
    Journal articles | 2017
    Blunt P; Mamundzay F; Nasary M, 2017, 'The long and the short of policy pantomime in Afghanistan', Progress in Development Studies, 17, pp. 67 - 88, http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1464993416674303
    Journal articles | 2016
    Blunt P; Khamoosh S, 2016, 'Vexatious voice: The politics of downward accountability and subnational governance reform in Afghanistan', Progress in Development Studies, 16, pp. 81 - 100, http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1464993415608085
    Journal articles | 2015
    Blunt P; Mamundzay F; Yama N; Afghan H, 2015, 'Policy paradigms, subnational governance and the state sovereignty gap in Afghanistan', Progress in Development Studies, 15, pp. 270 - 285, http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1464993415578981
    Journal articles | 2015
    Blunt P; Sainkhuu G, 2015, 'Serendipity and stealth, resistance and retribution: Policy development in the Mongolian mining sector', Progress in Development Studies, 15, pp. 371 - 385, http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1464993415592763
    Journal articles | 2014
    Blunt P, 2014, 'Whose resources are they anyway? 'Development assistance' and community development agreements in the Mongolian mining sector', Progress in Development Studies, 14, pp. 383 - 399, http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1464993414521491
    Journal articles | 2013
    Blunt P; Turner M; Lindroth H, 2013, 'Morton's Fork: "Democracy" Versus Neopatrimonialism in Developing Countries', International Journal of Public Administration, 36, pp. 45 - 62, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01900692.2012.713293
    Journal articles | 2012
    Blunt P; Lindroth H, 2012, 'Development's Denial of Social Justice', International Journal of Public Administration, 35, pp. 471 - 481, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01900692.2012.655357
    Journal articles | 2012
    Blunt P; Turner M; Lindroth H, 2012, 'Patronage's progress in post-soeharto Indonesia', Public Administration and Development, 32, pp. 64 - 81, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pad.617
    Journal articles | 2012
    Blunt P; Turner M; Lindroth H, 2012, 'Patronage, Service Delivery, and Social Justice in Indonesia', International Journal of Public Administration, 35, pp. 214 - 220, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01900692.2011.641050
    Journal articles | 2012
    Blunt P, 2012, 'Toxic technical assistance in conditions of state fragility: Field notes from Iraq', Progress in Development Studies, 12, pp. 337 - 352, http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/146499341201200405
    Journal articles | 2011
    Blunt P; Turner M; Hertz J, 2011, 'The meaning of development assistance', Public Administration and Development, 31, pp. 172 - 187, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pad.592
    Journal articles | 2009
    Blunt P, 2009, 'The political economy of accountability in timor-leste: Implications for public policy', Public Administration and Development, 29, pp. 89 - 100, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pad.522
    Journal articles | 2005
    Blunt P; Turner M, 2005, 'Decentralisation, democracy and development in a post-conflict society: Commune councils in Cambodia', Public Administration and Development, 25, pp. 75 - 87, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pad.349
    Journal articles | 2003
    Blunt P, 2003, 'Governance conditions, roles and capacity-building needs in the rebel-held areas of Southern Sudan', Public Administration and Development, 23, pp. 125 - 139, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pad.272
    Journal articles | 1999
    Jones ML; Blunt P, 1999, ''Twinning' as a method of sustainable institutional capacity building', Public Administration and Development, 19, pp. 381 - 402, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1099-162X(199910)19:4<381::AID-PAD87>3.0.CO;2-1
    Journal articles | 1997
    Blunt P; Jones ML, 1997, 'Exploring the limits of Western leadership theory in East Asia and Africa', Personnel Review, 26, pp. 6 - 23, http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/00483489710157760
    Journal articles | 1997
    Blunt P, 1997, 'Prisoners of the paradigm: Process consultants and 'clinical' development practitioners', Public Administration and Development, 17, pp. 341 - 349, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1099-162X(199708)17:3<341::AID-PAD954>3.0.CO;2-N
    Journal articles | 1996
    Jones ML; Blunt P; Sharma KC, 1996, 'Managerial perceptions of leadership and management in an African public service organization', Public Administration and Development, 16, pp. 455 - 467, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1099-162X(199612)16:5<455::AID-PAD897>3.0.CO;2-Z
    Journal articles | 1995
    Blunt P, 1995, 'Cultural relativism, ‘good’ governance and sustainable human development', Public Administration and Development, 15, pp. 1 - 9, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pad.4230150102
    Journal articles | 1995
    Southall R; Jones ML; Blunt P, 1995, 'Letter to the Book Reviews Editor', Journal of Contemporary African Studies, 13, pp. 139 - 140, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02589009508729567
    Journal articles | 1994
    Blunt P; Collins P, 1994, 'Introduction', Public Administration and Development, 14, pp. 111 - 120, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pad.4230140201
    Journal articles | 1993
    Jones ML; Blunt P, 1993, 'Organizational development and change in africa(1))', International Journal of Public Administration, 16, pp. 1735 - 1765, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01900699308524871
    Journal articles | 1992
    Blunt P, 1992, 'BECOMING INTERNATIONAL*', Australian Journal of Public Administration, 51, pp. 147 - 150, http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8500.1992.tb00230.x
    Journal articles | 1992
    Blunt P, 1992, 'East Africa Strikes Back — A Rejoinder to ‘Inside East Africa, Outside the Research Culture’', Organization Studies, 13, pp. 119 - 120, http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/017084069201300110
    Journal articles | 1992
    Blunt P, 1992, 'INSTITUTION BUILDING AS A MEANS FOR INTERNATIONALISING PUBLIC ORCANISATIONS IN AUSTRALIA*', Australian Journal of Public Administration, 51, pp. 268 - 273, http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8500.1992.tb00247.x
    Journal articles | 1991
    Blunt P; Jones M, 1991, 'Editorial: Human resource management in developing countries', The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 2, pp. 3 - 5, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09585199100000047
    Journal articles | 1991
    Blunt P, 1991, 'Organizational culture and development', The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 2, pp. 55 - 71, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09585199100000051
    Journal articles | 1990
    Blunt P, 1990, 'Recent Developments in Human Resource Management: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly', The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 1, pp. 45 - 59, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09585199000000039
    Journal articles | 1990
    Blunt P, 1990, 'Strategies for enhancing organizational effectiveness in the Third World', Public Administration and Development, 10, pp. 299 - 313, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pad.4230100306
    Journal articles | 1989
    Blunt P; Richards D; Wilson J, 1989, 'The ‘hidden‐hand’ of public administration in newly‐emerging states: A theoretical and empirical analysis', Journal of International Development, 1, pp. 409 - 443, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jid.3380010402
    Journal articles | 1986
    Blunt P, 1986, 'Managerial Motivation in Kenya and Malawi: A Cross-Cultural Comparison', The Journal of Modern African Studies, 24, pp. 165 - 175, http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0022278X00006790
    Journal articles | 1985
    Blunt P; Popoola OE, 1985, 'Personnel management in Africa.', Personnel management in Africa.
    Journal articles | 1984
    Blunt P, 1984, 'Conditions For Basic Need Satisfaction in Africa Through Decentralized Forms of Decision Making', The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 20, pp. 403 - 421, http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/002188638402000408
    Journal articles | 1983
    Blunt P, 1983, 'Motivation through job design and orientations to work: A theoretical reconstruction and synthesis', Australian Psychologist, 18, pp. 191 - 204, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00050068308256252
    Journal articles | 1983
    Warren DM; Blunt P, 1983, 'Decentralization in Ghana: The Impact on Organizational Effectiveness of Management Training among District and Regional-Level Officials', Journal of Contemporary African Studies, 3, pp. 35 - 58, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02589008308729419
    Journal articles | 1982
    Blunt P, 1982, 'Work Alienation and Adaptation in Sub-Saharan Africa: Some Evidence from Kenya', Journal of Contemporary African Studies, 2, pp. 59 - 79, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02589008208729398
    Journal articles | 1980
    Blunt P; Jones M, 1980, 'Structural Correlates of Organisational Size: Some Australian Evidence', Journal of Industrial Relations, 22, pp. 312 - 316, http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/002218568002200305
    Journal articles | 1980
    Blunt P, 1980, 'Aspects of Psychology and Epistemology', Australian Psychologist, 15, pp. 41 - 56, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00050068008254370
    Journal articles | 1980
    Blunt P, 1980, 'Bureaucracy and Ethnicty in Kenya: Some Conjectures for the Eighties', The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 16, pp. 336 - 353, http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/002188638001600305
    Journal articles | 1979
    Blunt P; Denton S, 1979, 'A Factor Analysis of a Ten‐Item Questionnaire Designed to Measure Maslow's Need Categories', Australian Psychologist, 14, pp. 41 - 50, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00050067908254341
    Journal articles | 1978
    Blunt P, 1978, 'Personality characteristics of a group of white South African managers: Some implications for placement procedures', International Journal of Psychology, 13, pp. 139 - 146, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00207597808246618
    Journal articles | 1978
    Blunt P, 1978, 'Social and Organisational Structures in East Africa: A Case for Participation', The Journal of Modern African Studies, 16, pp. 433 - 449, http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0022278X00002512
    Journal articles | 1977
    Blunt P, 1977, '‘Normal’ Science and Some of Its Dangers for Research into Organizational Theory and Behaviour', Australian Psychologist, 12, pp. 175 - 185, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00050067708255880
    Journal articles | 1973
    Blunt P, 1973, 'CULTURAL AND SITUATIONAL DETERMINANTS OF JOB SATISFACTION AMONGST MANAGEMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA — A RESEARCH NOTE', Journal of Management Studies, 10, pp. 133 - 140, http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.1973.tb00505.x