Citizen and Subject: Contemporary Africa and the legacy of late colonialism

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.

Participatory development and empowerment: the dangers of localism

This exploratory article forms the background for an empirical study for the Health Education Authority on children, young people, health, well-being and social capital. In terms of morbidity, children tend not to exhibit clear health problems, but obviously engage in activities that have important implications for their health and well-being (West & Sweeting, 1996), and these activities may be influenced by, as well as impact upon, children's social capital. Social capital is an elusive concept and has been defined in various ways, and refers to sociability, social networks and social support, trust, reciprocity, and community and civic engagement. The paper contrasts three interpretations of the concept, by Coleman (1988, 1990), Putnam (1993, 1995) and Bourdieu (1986). It concludes that the concept is currently poorly specified as it relates to children, and that the use of the term is inherently problematic, and needs to be carefully critiqued and empirically grounded before it can usefully be applied in social policy formulations. One possible way forward might be to conceptualise social capital not so much as a measurable ‘thing’, rather as a set of processes and practices that are integral to the acquisition of other forms of ‘capital’ such as human capital and cultural capital (ie qualifications, skills, group memberships, etc).

Conceptualising Social Capital in Relation to the Well-Being of Children and Young People: A Critical Review:

The burgeoning interest in social capital within the climate change community represents a welcome move towards a concern for the behavioural elements of adaptive action and capacity. In this paper the case is put forward for a critical engagement with social capital. There is need for an open debate on the conceptual and analytical traps and opportunities that social capital presents. The paper contrasts three schools of thought on social capital and uses a social capital lens to map out current and future areas for research on adaptation to climate change. It identifies opportunities for using social capital to research adaptive capacity and action within communities of place and communities of practice.

Understanding adaptation: What can social capital offer assessments of adaptive capacity?

The world is currently experiencing a surge of international regulations aimed at limiting the development policy options of developing country governments. Of the three big agreements coming out of the Uruguay Round – on investment measures (TRIMS), trade in services (GATS), and intellectual property rights (TRIPS) – the first two limit the authority of developing country governments to constrain the choices of companies operating in their territory, while the third requires the governments to enforce rigorous property rights of foreign (generally Western) firms. Together the agreements make comprehensively illegal many of the industrial policy instruments used in the successful East Asian developers to nurture their own industrial and technological capacities and are likely to lock in the position of Western countries at the top of the world hierarchy of wealth. The paper describes how the three agreements constitute a modern version of Friedrich List’s ‘kicking away the ladder’. It then outlines some needed changes in the way we think about development and in the role of multilateral organizations. It concludes that the practical prospects for change along these lines are slender, but not negligible.

http://r4d.dfid.gov.uk/PDF/Outputs/CrisisStates/WP31RW.pdf

Working Paper No.31. What strategies are viable for developing countries today? The World Trade Organization and the shrinking of 'development space'.

Recent theoretical work employing the concept of ‘social capital’ in the study of democratization remains plagued by conceptual confusion and a curious neglect of politics. This paper critically examines the work of Robert Putnam and other institutional theorists and suggests that a misguided attempt to locate a singular framework to explain both economic and political performance fails to recognize that the conditions underpinning successful capitalist development may not always be congruous with those favouring democratic politics. The work on social capital is coloured by an idealization of the role of the family and of the American political past, influenced by current communitarian thinking. Finally, an uncritical acceptance of the determinist notion of ‘path dependence’ eclipses the role of political action and ideas in the assessment of political outcomes and prospects for democratization. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

POLICY ARENA: Accounting for the ‘dark side’ of social capital: reading Robert Putnam on democracy

Economic and political foundations of state-making in Africa: understanding state reconstruction

Why do similar sets of formal institutions often have such divergent outcomes? An analysis of political settlements goes some way to answering this question by bringing into focus the contending interests that exist within any state, which constrain and facilitate institutional and developmental change. It provides a framework to analyse how the state is linked to society and what lies behind the formal representation of politics in a state. 
The political settlement and the elite bargains from which it emerges are central to patterns of state fragility and resilience. The role of political organisation within the political settlement is crucial to both the stability of the settlement and the direction in which it evolves over time. The elite bargains that may lead to the establishment of what might be considered a resilient political settlement may also act as a barrier to progressive developmental change. 
Analysis of political settlements suggests that state-building is far from a set of technical formulas, but is a highly political process. Creating capacity within a state to consolidate and expand taxation is fundamentally determined by the shape of the political settlement underlying the state. This is true as well for the development of service delivery or any other function of the state. This analytical framework provides a window for donors to grasp the politics of a place in order to design more effective interventions.

Political Settlements: Issues paper

Thinking Strategically About Politics and Poverty

This publication primarily deals with the socio-economic, historical, and political aspects of the Philippines' unmistakable characteristics of agrarian reform. It attempts to present the multi-dimensional character of agrarian reform and the conflict between the conservative and liberal approaches to reform; and seeks answers to the question as to why no significant land redistribution has taken place despite the pivotal position that agrarian reform has occupied in the political agenda. The author vividly illustrates his thesis that the conservative type of a pp roach which focused on introducing agrarian reform legislation in response to peasant demands, while minimizing any disturbance to existing property rights, primarily served the interests of the \"lords and captain\" of the elitist landed gentry and their colleagues in the agribusiness sector. James Putzel systematically marshals evidence on the conservative approach of the agrarian reform programme, providing insights into the manner in which elitist interests manipulated the state into preserving their interests. James Putzel also illustrates the potential redistributive reforms had during the initial years of both Marcos and Aquino administrations. Accordingly, a serious top-down reform programme could have been implemented during both periods, similar to the agrarian reform experiences of countries such as Japan, Taiwan and South Korea. Yet, although both administrations used agrarian reform as a slogan for their socio-economic programme Marcos labelled it as the \"corner-stone\" of all his programmes and Aquino used it as a \"centre piece\", the author proves that ultimately the landless rural poor were betrayed. While those who tilled the land re·mained hungry, the \"lords and captains\" held sway, the state a captive of elitis~ interests. The hold of the elites was all pervasive \"from economic to social, and from the centre to the periphery.\

James Putzel

Papers

POLICY ARENA: Accounting for the ‘dark side’ of social capital: reading Robert Putnam on democracy

Economic and political foundations of state-making in Africa: understanding state reconstruction

Political Settlements: Issues paper

Thinking Strategically About Politics and Poverty

A Captive Land: The Politics of Agrarian Reform in the Philippines: