ABSTRACT The geopolitics of development is in a state of uncertainty and transition that the Busa... more ABSTRACT The geopolitics of development is in a state of uncertainty and transition that the Busan High Level Forum both mirrored and contributed to. Busan established a new discourse of international development cooperation in which the old donor-recipient relationship is replaced by an equator-less landscape of a multi-stakeholder global partnership. But by analysing the Busan preparations and conference through textual analysis and participant observation we found it to be a fractured landscape of variable imagined geographies, suggesting that the question of who is ‘North’ and who is ‘South’ will continue to shape global negotiations on the future of development cooperation.
This article describes the exploratory and preparatory phase of a research project designed to us... more This article describes the exploratory and preparatory phase of a research project designed to use co-operative enquiry as a method for transformative and participatory action research into relations between donors and recipients in two developing countries, Bolivia and ...
Ⅲ Insights from postmodernist anthropology can inform development practice by encouraging eclecti... more Ⅲ Insights from postmodernist anthropology can inform development practice by encouraging eclecticism and challenging orthodoxy, although they can work against a practical agenda. The most useful insights for development organizations in recent years have come from the study of transnational coporations, rather than from anthropology. Organizations able to effect change in the global environment need to be flexible, adaptable and responsive. In the current context of globalization, interdisciplinarity and pragmatism are more useful to practitioners seeking implementable policy solutions than a single discipline.
ABSTRACT Development practice is informed by theories of change, but individuals and organisation... more ABSTRACT Development practice is informed by theories of change, but individuals and organisations may not make them explicit. Practitioners may be unaware of the extent to which strategic choices and debates are informed by disparate thinking about how history happens and the role of purposeful intervention for progressive social change. In the past few years, some Oxfam GB staff have been creating processes to debate their theories of change as part of an effort to improve practice. In this context, the authors introduce four sets of ideas about change, with a discussion of how they have been explored in two instances, and some of the challenges emerging from this process. Through explicitly debating theories of change, organisational decision-making processes can be better informed and strategic choices made more transparent.
‘Women's empowerment’, as used by international development organisations, is a fuzzy concept. Hi... more ‘Women's empowerment’, as used by international development organisations, is a fuzzy concept. Historical textual analysis and interviews with officials in development agencies reveal its adaptability and capacity to carry multiple meanings that variously wax and wane in their discursive influence. Today a privileging of instrumentalist meanings of empowerment associated with efficiency and growth are crowding out more socially transformative meanings associated with rights and collective action. In their efforts to make headway in what has become an unfavourable policy environment, officials in development agencies with a commitment to a broader social change agenda juggle these different meanings, strategically exploiting the concept's polysemic nature to keep that agenda alive. We argue for a politics of solidarity between such officials and feminist activists. We encourage the latter to challenge the prevailing instrumentalist discourse of empowerment with a clear, well articulated call for social transformation, while alerting them to how those with the same agenda within international development agencies may well be choosing their words with care, even if what they say appears fuzzy.
ABSTRACT The geopolitics of development is in a state of uncertainty and transition that the Busa... more ABSTRACT The geopolitics of development is in a state of uncertainty and transition that the Busan High Level Forum both mirrored and contributed to. Busan established a new discourse of international development cooperation in which the old donor-recipient relationship is replaced by an equator-less landscape of a multi-stakeholder global partnership. But by analysing the Busan preparations and conference through textual analysis and participant observation we found it to be a fractured landscape of variable imagined geographies, suggesting that the question of who is ‘North’ and who is ‘South’ will continue to shape global negotiations on the future of development cooperation.
This article describes the exploratory and preparatory phase of a research project designed to us... more This article describes the exploratory and preparatory phase of a research project designed to use co-operative enquiry as a method for transformative and participatory action research into relations between donors and recipients in two developing countries, Bolivia and ...
Ⅲ Insights from postmodernist anthropology can inform development practice by encouraging eclecti... more Ⅲ Insights from postmodernist anthropology can inform development practice by encouraging eclecticism and challenging orthodoxy, although they can work against a practical agenda. The most useful insights for development organizations in recent years have come from the study of transnational coporations, rather than from anthropology. Organizations able to effect change in the global environment need to be flexible, adaptable and responsive. In the current context of globalization, interdisciplinarity and pragmatism are more useful to practitioners seeking implementable policy solutions than a single discipline.
ABSTRACT Development practice is informed by theories of change, but individuals and organisation... more ABSTRACT Development practice is informed by theories of change, but individuals and organisations may not make them explicit. Practitioners may be unaware of the extent to which strategic choices and debates are informed by disparate thinking about how history happens and the role of purposeful intervention for progressive social change. In the past few years, some Oxfam GB staff have been creating processes to debate their theories of change as part of an effort to improve practice. In this context, the authors introduce four sets of ideas about change, with a discussion of how they have been explored in two instances, and some of the challenges emerging from this process. Through explicitly debating theories of change, organisational decision-making processes can be better informed and strategic choices made more transparent.
‘Women's empowerment’, as used by international development organisations, is a fuzzy concept. Hi... more ‘Women's empowerment’, as used by international development organisations, is a fuzzy concept. Historical textual analysis and interviews with officials in development agencies reveal its adaptability and capacity to carry multiple meanings that variously wax and wane in their discursive influence. Today a privileging of instrumentalist meanings of empowerment associated with efficiency and growth are crowding out more socially transformative meanings associated with rights and collective action. In their efforts to make headway in what has become an unfavourable policy environment, officials in development agencies with a commitment to a broader social change agenda juggle these different meanings, strategically exploiting the concept's polysemic nature to keep that agenda alive. We argue for a politics of solidarity between such officials and feminist activists. We encourage the latter to challenge the prevailing instrumentalist discourse of empowerment with a clear, well articulated call for social transformation, while alerting them to how those with the same agenda within international development agencies may well be choosing their words with care, even if what they say appears fuzzy.
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Papers by Rosalind Eyben