Joint (ad)ventures and (in)credible journeys evaluating innovation: asset-based community development in Ethiopia

Acknowledging debates about what constitutes effective and useful evaluation practice, this paper explores the particular challenges of evaluating an innovative approach to community development for multiple stakeholders with different interests and different levels of confidence in particular evaluation methodologies. The innovation – applying an Asset Based approach to Community Development (ABCD) in an Ethiopian context – presents further challenges to evaluation because of its open-ended nature and problems of attribution. On the other hand, the culture of risk-taking encouraged by the supporters of innovation provides the space for genuine lessons to be learnt about failure as well as success.     

ABCD to CBT: asset-based community development's potential for community-based tourism

This article conceptualises the potential for a relationship between asset-based community development (ABCD) and community-based tourism (CBT), with a view to improving CBT's patchy record in delivering community development. ABCD has previously been used in international development and community work, but is new to tourism for development. Hence, the article seeks to relate ABCD's characteristics with CBT on a theoretical level, based on a shift away from ‘needs-driven’ development towards a conscious appreciation of community assets. The authors suggest that ABCD can, and should, be applied to CBT, given the positive emphasis it puts on people and their potential.     

‘Communities of practice’: prospects for theory and action in participatory development

‘The myth of community’ permeates both the understanding and the practice of participatory development. Yet the idea that communities exist as coherent units of people who inhabit bounded geographic spaces and are ready to be mobilised for development restricts the very agency that participation promises. This article offers an alternative model of community: one that is more compatible with the ideal of people-centred, participatory development. Using Etienne Wenger's concept of ‘communities of practice’, and drawing on narrative theory and cognitive approaches to policy analysis, the article argues that community should be created and sustained around shared meanings.     

Of ‘witch's brews’ and scholarly communities: the dangers and promise of academic parrhesia

In a series of lectures in the early 1980s, Michel Foucault resurrected the Greek word for frankness or truth-telling—‘parrhesia’—to investigate the inter-relationships and tensions that existed between freedom, truth-telling and political power. He concluded that in order for one to ‘tell the truth’ against a powerful superior, one needs the courage to oppose a community of which the parrhesiastes (‘truth teller’) is a member. This paper uses parrhesia to investigate the practice of the international relations (IR) scholar in speaking out against his or her scholarly community. Tony Smith's 2007 book Pact with the devil is used as an example of academic-intellectual parrhesia not only to illustrate the content of a potential form of parrhesia, but to demonstrate the challenges IR scholars who wish to practise academic parrhesia face in criticizing members of their academic community. Smith's critique of democratic peace theory specifically, and liberal IR theory more generally, is particularly noteworthy considering Smith's former position as a leading liberal proponent. The paper reviews, and then supplements and extends, Smith's critique of democratic peace theory.     

Relationality and rationality in Confucian and Western traditions of thought

Abstract

This paper provides a theoretical sketch of relationality within the field of International Relations (IR). It argues, contrary to what many IR scholars hold, that representation is practice: academic representation reflects the background of a community of practice and highlights what is embodied therein. Therefore, different cultural communities have different practices and draw from different background knowledge. Rationality, which serves as the dominant foundation for background knowledge within many Western communities of practice, permeates mainstream IR theory. Relationality performs a similar role in traditionally Confucian communities of practice, where relations enjoy a distinct ontological status over individual rationality. A relational theory assumes (1) that self-existence coincides with other-existence and coexistence, and (2) that self-interest coincides with other-interest. Based on these assumptions, it argues that relations select, meaning that in a social situation actors base their action on relations in the first place and that rationality is and can only be defined in terms of relations. The article uses the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as an example to elaborate its theoretical point.     

Lost in translation? Keeping women's issues alive in gender and development initiatives

Gender and Development (GAD) theory has been enthusiastically embraced by all leading official donor agencies as the basis for initiating women's development initiatives in developing countries of the South. Based on a field survey of women's development initiatives in Sri Lanka, this paper shows the difficulties encountered by aid-dependent developing countries in the South in using the concept “gender”, as defined in the GAD theory, in their women's development activities, especially at the local community level.     

Complex adaptive systems as a valid framework for understanding community level development

Complex adaptive systems (CAS) theory is gaining mainstream recognition in development policy and management. This article looks to the correlations between development theory and CAS theory to support an argument for the validity of community level development as a complex adaptive system. The article describes some theoretical and practical implications of using CAS theory as a framework for community level development. This includes a call for researchers and practitioners to understand more thoroughly the contextualised nature of development, and the communities in which development interventions are implemented.     

Theory of Land-Ocean Peaceful Cooperation: a Geopolitical Study of the Sustainable Security of One Belt One Road

The joint establishment of One Belt One Road is a practice of international cooperation initiated by China and actively participated by other countries. One of the important issues is how to ensure sustainable common security, and what kind of geopolitical theory should be employed for guidance. Traditional geopolitical theories, such as sea power theory, land power theory and Rimland theory, mainly serve for the fi ght for geopolitical hegemony or military strategy. They are in sharp contrast with the goal of One Belt One Road, which is of mutual interest and a win-win situation. However, One Belt One Road is still regarded by some countries from the traditional geopolitical perspective. To equip One Belt One Road with new geopolitical concepts, the author hereby proposes the theory of land-ocean peaceful cooperation, which is a non-alliance network community of common interests, security and destiny. This community would be established for mutual benefi ts, between ocean countries and land countries, among ocean countries and among land countries. It could help policy communication among participant countries of One Belt One Road, and the establishment of an open net-like system of peaceful operation and common development. The theory of land-ocean peaceful cooperation of sustainable security, together with the practice of international cooperation of One Belt One Road, will undoubtedly break through the vicious cycle of the Eurasian geographical fi ght and confrontation between sea powers and land powers illustrated by the traditional geopolitics.     

Why can't development be managed more like a funeral? Challenging participatory practices

The adoption of techniques to elicit community participation in development practice is an important step forward. The question remains whether this is sufficient for development outcomes that accord with the aspirations of ‘participants’. Community perceptions are somewhat different, as our own conclusions demonstrate. We have developed a ‘methodology of inclusiveness’, based on community institutions which embed collective social action in everyday life. We use the analogy of funerals as collective action in which activities are planned, roles are demarcated, responsibilities are assigned, and desired outcomes are realised. We ask the question: why can't development be managed more like a funeral?     

Whose practice counts? Experiences in using indigenous health practices from Ethiopia and Uganda

There is considerable focus nowadays on the involvement of communities in planning their own projects. Much of this involvement is in the form of verbal communication whereby villagers inform development workers of their problems and how they propose to solve them. Drawing on experience from two projects in Uganda and Ethiopia, this article argues that the starting point for any project planning in a community context is the current practice of that community. It is argued that if one looks at the community's practice, beliefs, and knowledge, one has a firmer foundation on which to build a project.     

Transatlantic conflict management inside-out: the impact of domestic norms on regional security practices

This article explores the impact of domestic norms on regional security practices in a pluralistic security community in the transatlantic area. A security community is considered to be ‘a group which has become integrated, where integration is defined as the attainment of a sense of community, accompanied by formal or informal institutions or practices, sufficiently strong and widespread to assure peaceful change among members of a group with “reasonable” certainty over a “long” period of time’ (Karl W Deutsch, Sidney A Burrell, Robert A Kann, Maurice Lee Jr, Martin Lichterman, Raymond E Lindgren, Francis L Loewenheim and Richard W Van Wagenen (1957) Political community and the North Atlantic area: international organization in the light of historical experience (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press)). Recent studies have aligned the concept of security community with the practice turn in International Relations theory. Although practice theory is able to explain peaceful conflict resolution within a security community, this article shows that its explanatory power is significantly weaker when it comes to military interventions outside the security community. The article theoretically and empirically investigates this argument by using the empirical case of extraregional conflict management in Afghanistan. The importance of domestic norms in constructing and perceiving regional security practices in out-of-area operations emphasizes the ‘local’ over the ‘regional’ as a crucial driver behind the emergence of a regional actor's understanding of security and thus for the formation and consolidation of regional peace.     

The Euro and the European Demos: Money and Community beyond the Nation-state

Money represents a form of trust among the members of a community. They share a belief that certain symbolic tokens constitute real value. Sceptics frequently point out that the euro area does not have the characteristics of a community. In particular they view the euro as money without a demos. According to this sceptical view, then, the euro is backed by an insufficient level of solidarity and suffers from a deficit of legitimacy. This article identifies the main flaws and contradictions of the no-demos theory. Most importantly, no-demos theory suffers from the fundamental misconception that political community and democracy are possible only in the nation-state. This conceptualisation of community represents a zero-sum understanding of community that cannot capture the dynamic interaction of multiple communities as well as complex and overlapping identities. In addition, no-demos theory is trapped in an internal contradiction. In order for democracy to be possible among the members of a community, that membership in the community is given and rests on pre-democratic criteria. I argue in this article that we need to accept the notion of disaggregated communities and should drop the concept of a unified and fully sovereign demos altogether. Moreover, under conditions in which the gap between sovereignty and authority continues to grow, European Monetary Union is actually a more democratic form of governance than the pre-Maastricht monetary regime in Europe.     

Reconciling cultural practices and progress: childbirth in Dove,Ghana

Women are forbidden from giving birth within the community in Dove, Ghana because it is against their culture. Such cultural practice is scarce in contemporary societies so studies on the impact of the practice are currently limited in development literature. This article uses key informant interviews and focus group discussion guides to gather data. Findings reveal that the Chief, the Queenmother, and other community members maintain that the practice is not negatively affecting the socio-economic development of Dove as they have strategies to mitigate the practice.     

Juxtaposing handloom weaving and modernity: building theory through praxis

This article investigates the interaction between the processes of building development theory and development practice, arguing that theory must start with practice – and should not be top–down, starting with the ‘outside gaze’ of a supposedly detached academic or policy maker. The questions posed point to critiques of mainstream development narratives and notions of innovation through the diffusion of new technologies. The authors suggest that the assumptions embedded in mainstream development processes lead to unequal access to global and local markets, and that when they are imposed from the outside without a real understanding of the context, the development project is bound to fail. Parameters for assessing and evaluating outcomes also need to be based upon a close understanding of context – and this often comes through active involvement within it and not through being ‘detached’ and outside it. The assumption that an outside gaze is ‘objective’ is based in an implicitly colonial discourse, while building theory by being involved in the practice produces better methodologies for action and development.     

Endogenous development: some issues of concern

This article aims to provide knowledge and practical guidance to managing and implementing within the framework of endogenous development. The paper gives a theoretical overview of endogenous development, linked to issues of globalisation and poverty, and ongoing work among European institutions and academics that suggest shifts in Europe from exogenous to endogenous development approaches. It then makes a case for a paradigm shift – an African alternative to modernisation and development, namely endogenous development – using experiences with two NGOs in Ghana and Zimbabwe to locate theory in practice. The paper concludes with some empirical pre-requisites for conducting endogenous development with rural communities.

This article is prompted by the requests of my students at the University for Development Studies, Ghana, for knowledge and information, and practical guidance to managing and implementing within the framework of endogenous development. I start by giving a theoretical overview of the concept of endogenous development and link it with current issues of globalisation and poverty. I briefly mention current work among European institutions and academics that suggest shifts in Europe from exogenous to endogenous development approaches. Encouraged by such developments, I then make a case for a paradigm shift – an African alternative to modernisation and development, endogenous development. I bring to light the experiences with endogenous development in two NGOs – CECIK (Ghana) and AZTREC (Zimbabwe) – in order to locate theory in practice (praxis). I conclude by providing some empirical prerequisites for conducting endogenous development with rural communities, which demonstrate one way of conducting experimentation with farmers within the context of endogenous development.     

Using the personal influence model to guide theory building for participatory communication in Africa

Abstract

This article argues that the personal influence model (PIM) be used strategically to resolve conflicts and social crises in Africa. It presents PIM as a complementary, analytic discourse to participatory communication, a development paradigm commonly used globally in a variety of social programs. That discourse, as a framework for theory building, is grounded in Africa's emerging and enduring realities: (a) the growing interest of the international community to assist Africa to meet the U.N. Millennium Development Goals, whose focus is to reduce extreme poverty by 2015; (b) the ephemeral nature of Africa's political and social stability that necessitates reducing fear, improving community security, nurturing public trust, and building inter-group relationships, all as preconditions for attaining social development, and for using a community-agency- contracts-partnerships approach to deliver development services; and (c) the palpable congruence of PIM with Africa's extensive social networks, which are typically used as communication tools for social development. Those realities guide four propositions that serve as a heuristic template for testing and refining the participatory approach, thereby guiding theory building in participatory communication in African communities. That template identifies an expansive three-concept research agenda – culture, community governance and rule of law, and economic freedom – that raises questions, defines concepts, measures key variables, and assesses outcomes.     

Exploring the interface between community development and cooperative development within South Africa – a challenge of theory,practice and policy

During the past few years within South Africa there has been a proliferation of state-led community development initiatives tasked to form community-based cooperatives. It is into such a context that research was conducted during 2011–13 into how South African community development workers understand and conduct their professional practice in relation to cooperative formation.

Findings from the research consider issues such as: a dilemma of statecraft – working within instrumental contexts; the emotional work required of the practitioner; and, finally, confusing the developmental process. The discussions contribute to both theory-building and practice wisdom, while also contributing to South African cooperative policy.     

Communication with communities: a South African experience

ABSTRACT

In spite of the conventional wisdom stated by various authors that ‘we are living in the information age’ – a communication era characterised by a global expansion in the reach of mass media and electronic information ‘superhighways’ that span the globe – it is clear that there is growing realisation that it is still difficult to reach and communicate with rural communities in South Africa. The main aim of this article is therefore to examine the application of development communication theories in practice when communicating with communities in the Third World. In this article I argue that the viability of and prospects for effective communication with communities depend on three interrelated aspects. Firstly, the viability and prospects depend on current theoretical trends or approaches in development communication, because at the root of development communication – regardless of how this concept is defined – lies the issues of a structured and theoretical approach to community communication which are determined by current trends. Secondly, and crucial to the viability and prospects of community communication, is the question of which development communication methods or media to apply at the various stages of communication to reach the different target audiences. Thirdly, the viability and prospects for successful community communication will be influenced by an integrated approach to the application of development communication methods and media in development communication programmes or strategies.     

Partnerships,learning, and development: a case study from Ghana

Decades of development practice suggest the fundamental importance of improving aid-delivery systems and stakeholder competence in order to improve the well-being of poor people. However, it is questionable whether the aid system is able to change its attitudes and values through such partnerships in a way that will do this. This paper suggests that for this change to be possible, processes of individual, organisational, and inter-organisational learning have to be encouraged, in ways that do not sacrifice the knowledge obtained by aid workers in the processes of global management. The paper explores procedures of bilaterally funded community education projects in Ghana, in order to give insights into the working of partnership arrangements as a means to contribute to the alleviation of global poverty. Critical instances from the case study projects reveal the ways in which learning is facilitated, used, ignored, and hindered as the organisational relations develop.