ABSTRACT
This chapter traces parts of the foundation of research aid and provides an analysis of the policy development of the first years. It is partly chronological and partly thematic. Economic growth, industrialization and modernization ideals dominated until the late 1960s, but in the 1970s, critique against the focus on economic growth intensified. The lives of poor people had to be improved in order to able to say that development was occurring – distribution of resources became a central issue in aid policy. There was a leftist political wave for much of the 1970s after the 1968 movements and there was growing critique of the strong focus on economic growth in aid policies during this decade; poverty reduction and distribution of resources came higher up on the agenda. A committee was appointed in 1971 by Cabinet Minister Sven Moberg with the purpose of investigating issues surrounding the organization and direction of research-related to problems in low-income countries.
