Participatory Development and Its Emergence in the Fields of Community and International Development Yossef Ben-Meir
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University of New Mexico UNM Digital Repository Sociology ETDs Electronic Theses and Dissertations 7-9-2009 Participatory Development and Its Emergence in the Fields of Community and International Development Yossef Ben-Meir Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/soc_etds Recommended Citation Ben-Meir, Yossef. "Participatory Development and Its Emergence in the Fields of Community and International Development." (2009). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/soc_etds/5 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Electronic Theses and Dissertations at UNM Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Sociology ETDs by an authorized administrator of UNM Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Participatory Development and Its Emergence in the Fields of Community and International Development BY Yossef Ben-Meir B.A., Economics, New York University, 1991 M.A., International Development and Social Change, Clark University, 1997 DISSERTATION Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Sociology The University of New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico May, 2009 ©2009, Yossef Ben-Meir iii DEDICATION For Alon and Shaun Abraham iv Participatory Development and Its Emergence in the Fields of Community and International Development BY Yossef Ben-Meir ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Sociology The University of New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico May, 2009 Participatory Development and Its Emergence in the Fields of Community and International Development BY Yossef Ben-Meir ABSTRACT B.A., Economics, New York University, 1991 M.A., International Development and Social Change, Clark University, 1997 Ph.D., Sociology, The University of New Mexico, 2009 Since World War II, participatory development (PD), part of the alternative development movement, has evolved from a fringe approach to meeting basic human needs, to a globally recognized paradigm that is informing the strategic decisions regarding community and international development by governments and multi-lateral and indigenous NGOs, as well as management practices in the private sector. This is a study of 1) the evolution of this phenomenon since the 1940s in the context of historical events and dominant theories that inform most development (modernization-globalization and dependency-world-system), and 2) PD itself, including its basic features, methods, case examples, and roots in academic schools, related social movements, and theoretical and philosophical traditions. In the course of the analysis, developmental concepts related to PD are explored and defined, including: community, development, community vi development, capacity-building, project, decentralization, civil society, empowerment, self-reliance, and sustainable development. There are two important contributions to the field of development that this dissertation study makes. First, by explaining PD and its related concepts, an alternative- participatory development model is constructed that shows their inter- relationships within a social system. And second, a foundation is established to build PD theory by way of relating clear explanations of PD – its essential components and related concepts – to broad social theories that can reveal in greater scope consequences of PD in society. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES............................................................................................. xii LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................. xiii INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 1 CHAPTER 1: THE ONSET OF THE FIELD OF DEVELOPMENT AND MODERNIZATION THEORY..................................................................... 28 Pre-World War II ........................................................................................ 28 The 1940s and 1950s ................................................................................ 29 Defining Community................................................................................... 30 Modernization Theory ................................................................................ 35 Major Tenets of Modernization .......................................................... 35 Comparative Advantage and Import-Export ...................................... 39 Opposition to Modernization Theory.................................................. 40 Defining Development................................................................................ 44 Alternative Development and Post-Development .............................. 48 CHAPTER 2: ‘THE FIRST DEVELOPMENT DECADE’, COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, AND DECENTRALIZATION......................................... 52 The 1960s.................................................................................................. 52 Defining Community Development............................................................. 55 Community Development and the Alternative View........................... 56 Capacity-Building ....................................................................................... 62 The Decentralization Framework ............................................................... 66 Origins of Decentralization ................................................................ 66 viii Central Government in Decentralization............................................ 67 Decentralization and Human Development ....................................... 71 Approaches to Decentralization......................................................... 73 Recent History of Decentralization .................................................... 76 Decentralization’s Primary Features.................................................. 80 Outcomes of Decentralization ........................................................... 82 Definition of Decentralization............................................................. 85 Federalism and Its Outcomes .................................................................... 88 CHAPTER 3: THE ASCENDENCY OF DEPENDENCY ................................... 94 The 1970s.................................................................................................. 94 Conventional Research and the Participatory Research Alternative.......... 99 Dependency Theory................................................................................. 111 Dependency View of Development and Underdevelopment ........... 111 Monocultivation, Manufacturing, and International Trade................ 115 Multinational Corporations and Foreign Aid..................................... 116 Marxist Critique of and Integration with Dependency Theory .......... 118 Self-reliance and Development ....................................................... 120 Considerations When Planning Self-Reliance................................. 124 Application of Self-Reliance............................................................. 129 The Regional Integration Approach................................................. 133 World-System Theory...................................................................... 136 World-System and Socialism........................................................... 138 ix CHAPTER 4: GLOBALIZATION, ITS INSTITUTIONS, AND PARTICIPATION ................................................................................................................. 143 The 1980s and 1990s .............................................................................. 143 The World Bank and Structural Adjustment Programs............................. 145 The International Monetary Fund and Financial Crises............................ 148 The Emergence of Globalization.............................................................. 149 Economic Outcomes of Globalization ...................................................... 154 Political Outcomes of Globalization.......................................................... 164 Social Outcomes of Globalization ............................................................ 166 Free Trade and Protectionism.................................................................. 169 CHAPTER 5: THE RISE OF PARTICIPATORY DEVELOPMENT AND ITS EXPLANATION ....................................................................................... 176 A Participatory Development Era? ........................................................... 176 Basic Features of Participatory Development .......................................... 183 Community Determination and Management of Development ........ 183 Dialogue in PD ................................................................................ 188 PD Methods and Local Information Sharing.................................... 189 Development Projects and PD Project Objectives ................................... 225 Defining Development Projects ....................................................... 225 PD Project Objectives ..................................................................... 229 New and Adapting Nongovernment (Civil Society) Organizations ........... 238 Civil Society and Government ......................................................... 244 Civil Society and the Business Sector ............................................. 247 x NGOs Informed by PD....................................................................