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AN ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION OF Golden Munyaka for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education presented on August 1, 2003. Title:Integrating Indigenous knowledge intothe Community Development Process: The Zimbabwean Experience Abstract approved: Redacted for Privacy Warren N. Suzuki This study is a critical ethnography of my professional career as an educator born and raised in the Shona culture in Zimbabwe. In this metaphysical study I reconstruct a worldview that I consider to be representative of Shona customs and beliefs. Doing this project has challenged my own ethnic identity as I struggled to position myself on the emic-etic continuum. As a young educator, I believed my professional practice was rooted in the high professional ethics of"modern science." Today as I come to the end of this particular journey, I have raised more questions than answers. To what extend does "modern science" represent the worldviews of indigenous people like me? More still, to what extend does the development of knowledge and technology engage rural indigenous communities? Is it possible for rural indigenous communities to achieve sustainable development as outsiders to the "scientific" community? The questions I have raised in this study have led me to understand that the current state of "development" as a concept and discourse needs to be redefined from the perspective of ordinary rural people. Universal notions of development have failed to inform policy makers and researchers on how to solve social problems of poverty and access to basic services likeclean water,food,shelter, and affordable health care and education. Globalization as the new manifestation of "modernity" is leading to increased exclusion of disadvantaged communities, mostly women and indigenous rural people, from enjoying the benefits of new knowledge and advanced technology. In this dissertation, I review the main paradigms of community development from 1884 when Africa was officially "christianized" at the Berlin Conference. The epistemology of community development gave me a unique opportunity topropose a grassroots model to community development that I refer to as the "G Community Development" theory (or simply the GCD theory). The GCD theory is grounded in the Zimbabwean context and my woridview. This theory is my tentative approach to make sense of the state of the development of indigenous communities in rural Zimbabwe. Under no circumstances do I seek to generalize the application of this theoretical artifact. ©Copyright by Golden Munyaka August 1,2003 All Rights Reserved Integrating Indigenous Knowledge into the Community Development Process: The Zimbabwean Experience by Golden Munyaka A DISSERTATION Submitted to Oregon State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Presented August 1, 2003 Commencement June 2004 Doctor of Philosophy dissertation of Golden Munyaka presented on August 1, 2003. APPROVED: Redacted for Privacy Major Professor, representing Redacted for Privacy Redacted for Privacy Dean of Gi'aqfuat School I understand that my dissertation will become part of the permanent collection of Oregon State University libraries. My signature below authorizes release of my dissertation to any reader upon request. Redacted for Privacy Golden Munyaka, Author ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I take great pride to acknowledge the tremendous support and advising from several professors and colleagues whom I now consider as part of my academic community. First and foremost, I benefited immensely from my Major Professor Warren N. Suzuki. On his day of retirement he offered me the greater part of his own library. Professor Suzuki made my life in graduate study the most fulfilling experience of my professional career. He showed me what it means to be a real mentor. I have no words to express my heart-felt gratitude to him and his family. Thanks to Kimberly Richards my dear friend and fellow doctoral student whose initiative led me to have total confidence in Dr. Suzuki as my professor before I even met him in person. I want to take this opportunity to thank the Dean of the School of Education, Professor Sam Stern, for allowing me to use his personal library at a time when resources were beyond reach. I owe Professor Stern my unreserved appreciation of good leadership. Second, I want to say a big thank you to my graduate representative, Professor Erlinda Gonzales-Berry. Her untiring words of wisdom and advice made this journey possible. Special thanks to members of my doctoral committee, Professor George Copa, for giving me the courage to face my own academic biases at a time when I had almost lost hope; Professor Karen Higgins for introducing me to radical feminism and the beauty of story as a robust research methodology; Professor Ken Winograd for his passion for action research and service learning approaches. My gratitude go to Professor Wayne W. Haverson and Dale E. Pehrsson for putting in long hours in guiding me to come up with a program of study. I want to give special thanks to my colleagues Dr. Tracy Bentley-Townlin and Dr. Maria E. Dantas-Whitney for giving me hands-on advice and teasing me when my spirits were down and Dr. Jessicca White for giving me access to her thesis on racial identity development. Dr. Sandy E. Tsuneyoshi helped me to clarify my thought processes and has stood by me all the way. I thank her for taking her time to read my proposal and giving me candid feedback. Dr. Cheryl Anderson for giving me feedback on the initial draft of my proposal. My program could not have been so rewarding were it not of my other professors: Miller for accepting me in his classes in human resource management and, management and union relations; Laura Connolly for sharpening my public policy analysis skills; Joanne B. Engel for re-introducing me to instructional leadership and adult learning theories; Jean Moule for her passion in chaos theory and multicultural education; Lani Roberts for her inspirational discussions on the philosophy of oppression; Betty Duvall for allowing me to use her readings on organizations as living systems; Lizbeth A. Gray for teaching me vital skills in publication and scholarship; Cass Dykeman for his insight in hermeneutic analysis and social change theory; Michael, A. Ingram for teaching me survival skills; Robert Thompson for introducing me to the works of W.E.B. Du Bois; Jose Antonio Orosco for leading me to the works of Kwame Anthony Appiah on African philosophy; Steven C. Rubert for teaching me historiography; Gordon Matzke for lively discussions on African socio-economic problems; Dwaine Plaza for sources on action research in sociology; and last but never in any way least to my dear friend Kurt Peters for introducing me to environmental racism. Institute of International Education, and the Fuibright Program made it possible for me to study in the United States. As an international student, I want to take this opportunity to extend my deep appreciation for the financial support I got from the United States Embassy in Harare and the International Student Advisors-- Marybeth Trevino and Valerie Rosenberg--now my very close friends at Oregon State University. Similarly, my studies at this university would not have been successful without the leadership development programs in the Office of Student Involvement. I want to thank the Vice Provost for Student Affairs, Dr. Lany Roper, for being a good leadership role model and supporting my diversity development activities and events. I have learned a lot from my interactions with the Dean of Students, Dr. Richard Haruo Shintaku; the Director of Student Involvement, Beth Rietveld; the Special Event Coordinator, Robin L. Ryan, the Leadership Development Coordinator, Katherine R.B. Wilson, the Diversity Website Project Coordinator, Deborah Anne Burke for helping me with her literature of service learning models, and the Ujima Education Office Coordinator, Earlean Huey Wilson for tirelessly supporting me and giving me access to printing facilities. TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION ......................................................... 1 Background to the problem ..................................................... 1 Purpose of study ................................................................. 5 Needfor the study ................................................................ 6 Lack of existing studies ......................................................... 10 Contribution to field of study .................................................. 13 Limitations and problems: confronting my biases .......................... 17 Is modern science improving the quality of life of rural indigenous people7............................................................................20 How is globalization influencing the lives of ruralpeople9...............21 Does the "scientific" community care about what ordinary people say7................................................................................22 Pan-Africanism is no excuse to alienate communities from celebrating cultural differences ............................................................... 23 Problem of acceptance ........................................................... 25 Organization ...................................................................... 26 II. THEORIES OF DEVELOPMENT AND THEIR DISCONTENT ................................................................ 29 Historical background ............................................................ 29 Failure of