Giles Mohan

Bio: Giles Mohan is an academic researcher from Open University. The author has contributed to research in topics: China & Politics. The author has an hindex of 38, co-authored 105 publications receiving 6360 citations. Previous affiliations of Giles Mohan include University of Central Lancashire & University of Portsmouth.

Participatory development and empowerment: the dangers of localism

Abstract: Recent discussions in development have moved away from holistic theorisation towards more localised, empirical and inductive approaches. In development practice there has been a parallel move towards local ‘participation’ and ‘empowerment’, which has produced, albeit with very different agendas, a high level of agreement between actors and institutions of the ‘new’ Left and the ‘new’ Right. This paper examines the manifestations of this move in four key political arenas: decentralised service delivery, participatory development, social capital formation and local development, and collective actions for ‘radical democracy’. We argue that, by focusing so heavily on ‘the local’, the see manifestations tend to underplay both local inequalities and power relations as well as national and transnational economic and political forces. Following from this, we advocate a stronger emphasis on the politics of the local, ie on the political use of ‘the local’ by hegemonic and counter-hegemonic interests.

Participation: From Tyranny to Transformation: Exploring New Approaches to Participation in Development

Abstract: Participation is a popular approach to project implementation, policy-making and governance in both developing and developed countries. Recently, however, it has become fashionable to dismiss participation as more rhetoric than substance, and subject to manipulation by those intent on pursuing their own agendas under cover of community consent. This books seeks to rebut this simplistic conclusion. It describes and analyses new experiments in participation from a wide range of situations that show how, far from being a redundant and depoliticizing concept, participation can be linked to genuinely transformative processes and outcomes - provided that a political and not a technocratic approach is taken. It examines the recent convergence between participatory development and participatory governance, and the role of all the main actors - the state, civil society and donor agencies. It takes contemporary advances in development theory into account and proposes theoretical and practical ways forward.

Relocating participation within a radical politics of development

Abstract: In response to (and in sympathy with) many of the critical points that have been lodged against participatory approaches to development and governance within international development, this article seeks to relocate participation within a radical politics of development. We argue that participation needs to be theoretically and strategically informed by a notion of ‘citizenship’, and be located within the ‘critical modernist’ approach to development. Using empirical evidence drawn from a wide range of contemporary approaches to participation, the paper shows that participatory approaches are most likely to succeed where (i) they are pursued as part of a wider radical political project; (ii) where they are aimed specifically at securing citizenship rights and participation for marginal and subordinate groups; and (iii) when they seek to engage with development as an underlying process of social change rather than in the form of discrete technocratic interventions. However, we do not use these findings to argue against using participatory methods where these conditions are not met. Finally, the paper considers the implications of this relocation for participation in both theoretical and strategic terms.

Placing social capital

Abstract: This paper reviews the contribution that the concept of social capital might make to geography, and the contribution geography might make to the analysis of social capital. We begin by summarizing the conceptual origins and dimensions of social capital, in the process of which we distinguish it from several other social properties (human and cultural capital; social networks). We then summarize key criticisms of the concept, especially those levelled at the work of Robert Putnam. The core of the paper is a discussion of the issue of whether there might be a geography of social capital. We consider links between geographical debates and the concept of social capital, and we assess the difficulties of deriving spatially disaggregated measures of social capital. We illustrate this discussion with reference to literature on three sets of issues: the question of 'institutional tissue' and its effects on regional development; the understanding of health inequalities; and the analysis of comparative government performance. In conclusion, we argue that the popularity of the concept reflects a combination of academic and political developments, notably the search for ostensibly 'costless' policies of redistribution on the part of centrist governments. We therefore conclude with a discussion of the practical applications of the concept in different contexts.

Beyond participation: strategies for deeper empowerment

Abstract: 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

Social Capital, Collective Action, and Adaptation to Climate Change

Abstract: The effects of observed and future changes in climate are spatially and socially differentiated. The impacts of future changes will be felt particularly by resource-dependent communities through a multitude of primary and secondary effects cascading through natural and social systems. Given that the world is increasingly faced with risks of climate change that are at the boundaries of human experience3, there is an urgent need to learn from past and present adaptation strategies to understand both the processes by which adaptation takes place and the limitations of the various agents of change – states, markets, and civil society – in these processes. Societies have inherent capacities to adapt to climate change. In this article, I argue that these capacities are bound up in their ability to act collectively.

Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste

Abstract: By Pierre Bourdieu (London: Routledge, 2010), xxx + 607 pp. £15.99 paper. A combination of social theory, statistical data, illustrations, and interviews, Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judg...