It has long been acknowledged that international development and humanitarian aid has failed to achieve the perhaps too lofty goals. Some scholars and activists have also been tracking on how aid triggers conditionalities, with a debate about what is ‘unintentional.’ In this paper I explore David’s provocative “aidland” concept, arguing that aid agencies have a culture in and of themselves. Discussing one of the world’s largest humanitarian responses, to the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, I interrogate whether the “aftershocks” caused by aid are results of the clash of cultures.

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