Methods and mindsets: Towards an understanding of the tyranny of methodology

This article attempts to examine familiar things through a different comparative focus. The results given here are preliminary and intended for comment and further development. The article takes as its basis the tradition which has arisen from the export of methods to developing countries in all manner of scientific and technical development projects. In the area of global development the traditions of technology transfer and development intervention by donor agencies and their related consultancy groups is well documented. Not so well covered in the literature is the related issue pertaining to the export of the methods which accompany and, to some extent, confer respectability upon all manner of technology, intervention and work towards nation building. The article is concerned with what might be called the ‘tyranny of methods’, which, it is argued, are applied often uncritically in development work. The mindsets which are invoked by traditional western scientific methods are reviewed using a psychological model. Following from this, the article investigates two areas of existing experience in the adoption of methods and then goes on to develop a critical perspective of one particular form of information systems development method, drawing on the experiences related. The article briefly investigates traditional, linear methods and makes links to the experiences of fanning systems research and rapid rural appraisal. Although no definitive conclusions are made, observations relating to an action plan are provided. The core of this relates to self-analysis and points to be conscious of in the export of any method.     

Domestic violence and dependency courts: the Greenbook demonstration experience

This field study reports on a cross-site evaluation of dependency courts in communities receiving federal funding to implement the Greenbook initiative, a multisite demonstration for community improvement of coordinated responses to families victimized by domestic violence and child maltreatment. This article focuses on the dependency court, where child maltreatment cases are heard, specifically court participation in collaborative activities and court practice improvements. Findings indicate that perceptions of judicial leadership varied considerably by site. Cross-training appeared to increase over time, particularly with court staff. Collaborative efforts emerged across the Greenbook initiative with regard to the courts, and some innovative practices appeared within Greenbook sites, such as separate case plans for perpetrators and victims of violence in families, reducing the likelihood of controversial failure to protect charges. Results also highlight challenges inherent in changing court practices. Research and practice implications are discussed, focusing on relevance to other communities attempting to work collaboratively with the court system.     

Justice through defiance: political prisoner support work and infrastructures of resistance

This essay outlines the justice work done by the Anarchist Black Cross (ABC) in the US, an organization that provides material and symbolic support to political and politicized prisoners. The history of this organization is briefly explored to contextualize its current composition, tactics, and goals in its mission to support political prisoners, as well as the way its driving philosophies distinguish the ABC from other organizations that are engaged in political prisoner-related issues. Unlike more well-known, mainstream organizations that use a human rights discourse, the ABC contributes to an overall ‘infrastructure of resistance’ to defy systematized exploitation. This essay situates this project within a broader anarchist strategy to creatively and actively construct justice alternatives that work to establish mutual aid and needs-based economies.