Curaçao, Our Nation
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Master Thesis Research Master Public Administration and Organisational Science Utrecht University 1 Title Curaçao, our nation An Appreciative Inquiry on the future of Curaçao Date Utrecht, September 2011 Master Research Master in Public Administration and Organisational Science Utrecht School of Governance Utrecht University Author Joeri Kabalt Student number: 3065642 Stroomstraat 35, 3513 VM Utrecht, The Netherlands [email protected] Supervisors Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Dian Marie Hosking Second Reader: Prof. Dr. Arjen Boin Cover Painting by Nena Sanchez, www.nenasanchez.com 2 Table of contents ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................................... 6 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................. 8 CHAPTER 1: BEGINNINGS OF A JOURNEY .............................................................. 10 1.1 TRAVELLING TO CURAÇAO ........................................................................................... 10 A MENTALITY CHANGE? ............................................................................................................................................ 11 YOU ARE A HUMAN! .................................................................................................................................................. 12 1.2 DEVELOPING AN INTEREST IN APPROACHES TO DEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE ........ 14 POSSIBILITIES FOR CHANGE. ...................................................................................................................................... 14 AN APPRECIATIVE INQUIRY APPROACH. ................................................................................................................. 15 1.3 TRYING TO PUT APPRECIATIVE INQUIRY TO WORK ON CURAÇAO ............................ 16 RESEARCH QUESTION AND RESEARCH AIMS ......................................................................................................... 17 PROJECT RELEVANCE. ................................................................................................................................................ 18 1.4 WHERE THIS JOURNEY MIGHT TAKE US.. ..................................................................... 19 CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL EXPLORATIONS ......................................................... 22 2.1 SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONISM .......................................................................................... 22 DIFFERENT SOCIAL SCIENCE PERSPECTIVES. ............................................................................................................ 22 FIVE ASSUMPTIONS OF SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONISM. ............................................................................................. 24 2.2 APPROACHES TO DEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE: SOME ANALYTICAL THEMES ........... 26 CONSTRUCTING NON SUBJECT-OBJECT PROCESSES ............................................................................................. 27 OPENING UP TO MULTIPLE LOCAL CONSTRUCTIONS AND REALITIES. ............................................................... 29 CENTRING POSSIBILITIES AND APPRECIATION. ....................................................................................................... 31 BOTH INQUIRY AND INTERVENTION. ..................................................................................................................... 32 2.3 APPRECIATIVE INQUIRY ................................................................................................ 34 THE 4-D CYCLE OF APPRECIATIVE INQUIRY. .......................................................................................................... 35 DOES APPRECIATIVE INQUIRY ‘WORK’? .................................................................................................................. 37 APPRECIATIVE INQUIRY AS INQUIRY INTO THE POSITIVE? .................................................................................... 39 SOME EXAMPLES OF APPRECIATIVE INQUIRY IN PRACTICE ................................................................................... 41 2.4 SOME CONCLUDING THOUGHTS ON THIS CHAPTER .................................................... 42 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH DESIGN ................................................................................. 44 3.1 CASE STUDY DESIGN ...................................................................................................... 44 AN ETHNOGRAPHY. .................................................................................................................................................. 44 CASE SELECTION. ........................................................................................................................................................ 46 A MULTILINGUAL PROJECT. ....................................................................................................................................... 47 3.2 RESEARCH TECHNIQUES ................................................................................................ 47 INFORMAL ETHNOGRAPHIC INTERVIEWS. .............................................................................................................. 48 APPRECIATIVE INTERVIEWS. ...................................................................................................................................... 49 GROUP MEETINGS. ..................................................................................................................................................... 52 OBSERVATIONS. .......................................................................................................................................................... 53 3.3 RESPONDENTS AND PARTICIPANTS ............................................................................. 54 3.4 ANALYSING THE DATA .................................................................................................. 55 3.5 QUALITY ........................................................................................................................ 57 CHAPTER 4: GETTING STARTED: MY EARLY WEEKS ON CURAÇAO ............. 61 4.1 ADJUSTING TO THE LOCAL RHYTHM ............................................................................ 61 CONVERSATIONS ABOUT CURAÇAO. ..................................................................................................................... 62 “NOTHING HAS CHANGED”. .................................................................................................................................... 63 3 ! ! ! 10-10-10 AS A WAY STATION FOR INDEPENDENCY. ............................................................................................ 63 “EVERYTHING IS BETTER IN THE NETHERLANDS”. ................................................................................................. 64 THE PLACE WHERE YOU ARE BORN. ........................................................................................................................ 65 4.2 GETTING INVOLVED WITH MULTIPLE INITIATIVES ....................................................... 66 JONGEREN VAN HET KONINKRIJK. .......................................................................................................................... 68 PARTICIPATING IN A PROJECT AS STUDENT-ASSISTANT. ....................................................................................... 68 LEARNING ABOUT WE LEAD. ................................................................................................................................... 69 4.3 DECIDING HOW TO MOVE FORWARD ............................................................................ 71 SOME THOUGHTS ON THE FIRST PART OF MY STAY. ............................................................................................. 74 CHAPTER 5: CURAÇAO, OUR NATION ..................................................................... 76 5.1 ORGANISING AN APPRECIATIVE INQUIRY PROJECT TOGETHER WITH OTHERS .......... 76 TEAMING UP WITH WE LEAD ................................................................................................................................... 76 DECIDING ABOUT QUESTIONS. ................................................................................................................................ 78 RECRUITING AND TRAINING PARTICIPANTS. .......................................................................................................... 81 5.2 A MULTI-LAYERED CONVERSATION ABOUT CURAÇAO ............................................... 82 DIFFERENT CONSTRUCTIONS OF POSITIVE. ............................................................................................................ 83 CHANGES FOR CURAÇAO. ....................................................................................................................................... 85 PROUD OF CURAÇAO? .............................................................................................................................................. 88 A POSITIVE FUTURE FOR CURAÇAO? ....................................................................................................................... 91 5.3 SHARING STORIES AND EXPERIENCES WITH THE INTERVIEWERS ............................... 93 A POSITIVE CONVERSATION ABOUT CURAÇAO. ..................................................................................................