In many popular intervention methodologies aimed at stimulating sustainable rural development (in the widest possible sense) the idea of ‘participation’ is a leading principle. This article will demonstrate that the process in which actors are supposed to participate is often thought of as being a process of planning, decision-making and/or social learning. It will be argued that such an operationalization of development processes is based on inconsistent theoretical assumptions, and can easily lead to unproductive development interventions due to an inability to handle conflicts. As an alternative it is proposed to use negotiation theory as a basis for organizing participatory development efforts. The implications of such a shift in thinking about participation are far-reaching: it requires new modes of analysis, and different roles, tasks and skills for facilitators of participatory processes.

Reconceptualizing Participation for Sustainable Rural Development: Towards a Negotiation Approach

This paper tracks the changing role of public participation in planning thought. In doing so, the paper shows that the role of public participation in planning is largely determined by the nature of the planning enterprise being undertaken. The definition of the planning problem, the kinds of knowledge used in planning practice, and the conceptualisation of the planning and decision-making context are the important determinants of the extent of participation offered to the public. The paper therefore contributes to thinking about how to evaluate public participation by showing that it can only be understood in terms of the decision-making context in which it is embedded. Specifically, it makes little sense to evaluate public participation in terms that are not shared by the planning model itself

Public Participation in Planning: an intellectual history

This chapter has two major aims The first is to critique existing participatory practices, especially the ways in which local knowledge is generated as a necessary first-step in reversing the 'top down' approaches of many development initiatives This critique is realised largely through the use of concepts derived from postcolonial studies In order to do this effectively, the following section outlines some of the major themes within postcolonial studies as it is a relatively recent and poorly defined area of the social sciences These critical insights are then used in section two to examine the ways in which participatory research methods tend to reinscribe relations of authority between the outside facilitator and the grassroots The second aim, which is dealt with in section three, is to re-work approaches to participatory development in light of the preceding criticisms This is done through both theoretical considerations and a case study of a small NGO working in West Africa While not wanting to portray the NGO as having overcome all barriers to participation, it is instructive in demonstrating how a reflexive, 'outside' organisation can deal with problematic power relationships at the local level

/pdf/beyond-participation-strategies-for-deeper-empowerment-239hsiv84l.pdf

Beyond participation: strategies for deeper empowerment

The practice orientation of Robert Chambers' work on Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA), which aims at enabling local people and communities to take control over their own development, has received much attention in development circles. This article attempts to shift the emphasis away from PRA's practice towards its theoretical underpinnings. The article argues that PRA's practice/empiricist orientation causes it to be insufficiently theorised and politicised. As a result, questions about inclusiveness, the role of PRA facilitators, and the personal behaviour of elites overshadow, or sometimes ignore, questions of legitimacy, justice, power and the politics of gender and difference. The article draws on arguments and debates involving Habermasian 'deliberative democracy' and post-structuralist notions of power.

/pdf/the-devil-s-in-the-theory-a-critical-assessment-of-robert-5gdr7doldm.pdf

The devil's in the theory: A critical assessment of Robert Chambers' work on participatory development

The article highlights the realities and dynamics facing researchers researching indigenous African culture. The cultural aspirations, understandings, and practices of African indigenous people should position researchers to implement and organize the research process. Suggestions are also made for implementing the "Afrocentric method," and how to use African indigenous culture as a foundation for the Afrocentric method. The intent of this article is to stimulate enlightened discussion about the definition, mechanisms, and purpose of the Afrocentric method as an appropriate research method for indigenous African culture and how it can be used as a complement to qualitative research methods. Key Words: Afrocentric Method, Indigenous African Culture, Indigenous Knowledge, African Centred Research, Collective Identity, Holistic Orientation, and Ubuntu Introduction Since colonial invasions, African indigenous culture has weathered rapid change. Many researchers made real attempts to get inside the African culture, but even so, there was a tendency to see culture in terms of the coloniser's precepts and to assess educational needs in terms of the coloniser's agenda. When establishing formal education there was no adequate reference to the indigenous education that Africans already had or to the depth of the ancestral opinions that influenced African thinking. Even at present, researchers who are interested in indigenous culture and education have made small reference in assessing change to the extent in which African values have survived, or of the extent to which these values had continued to influence African researchers' actions at different points in time. It is important that researchers remind themselves that much of the literature on African culture and education can be ideologically traced back to the emergence of "knowledge" about indigenous peoples in the context of European imperialism and expansion. In brief, Africans were often judged in European contexts and not in terms of their own. Hence, the following questions are asked: How can the Afrocentric method as advanced by Asante (1987, 1988, 1990, 1995) be used in researching African indigenous culture and can African research refrain from sticking to the pathways mapped out by the colonial or neo-colonial experts? The purpose of this article is to show ways that the Afrocentric method can be used for researching indigenous culture. As an African in South Africa I have received education in a country that has openly marginalised African indigenous knowledge. Now as a democratic country South Africa is engaged in the unfolding process of bringing African indigenous knowledge systems into focus as a legitimate field of academic enquiry in its own right. I have attended several conferences and workshops in South Africa where debates and issues have become critical and intense regarding conceptual frameworks and methodological procedures, which the indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) field presents. It is in this light that I explore the Afrocentric method as an alternative method to study IKS. The Afrocentric Paradigm Unpacked The Afrocentric method is derived from the Afrocentric paradigm which deals with the question of African identity from the perspective of African people as centred, located, oriented, and grounded. This idea has been named "Afrocentricity" by Molefe Asante (1987) in order to convey the profound need for African people to be re-located historically, economically, socially, politically, and philosophically. He explained Afrocentricity as follows: To say that we are decentred means essentially that we have lost our own cultural footing and become other than our cultural and political origins, dis-located and dis-oriented. We are essentially insane, that is, living an absurdity from which we will never be able to free our minds until we return to the source. Afrocentricity as a theory of change intends to relocate the African person as subject. …

/pdf/using-the-afrocentric-method-in-researching-indigenous-1lhsdcpmc1.pdf

Using the Afrocentric Method in Researching Indigenous African Culture

This workshop is aimed at uncovering the issues of power which are inherent within the participatory process, and discussing mechanisms for enhancing the ability of workers to participate as equals. A combination of exercises, case studies and discussion will be utilized.

/pdf/participation-and-power-4f5grdm031.pdf

Charley Richardson

Papers

Participation and Power