An assessment of empowerment through highly participatory asset-based community development in Myanmar

Asset-based community development (ABCD) is a highly participatory approach to development that seeks to empower communities to draw on tangible and social community assets to manage their own development. The strength of ABCD is its ability to facilitate people imagining their world differently, resulting in action to change their circumstances. Previous research has shown international non-government organisations have found highly participatory, community-led approaches to development to have been particularly effective forms of poverty mitigation and community empowerment within Myanmar, even before the current reforms, which is surprising given the restrictive socio-political context created by authoritarian rule by a regime with an international reputation for human rights violations. 

This paper documents ABCD programs within Myanmar, one of the poorest countries in Asia suffering major underdevelopment and ranking poorly across a wide range of socioeconomic indicators. It explores the operation, effectiveness and reasons behind the success of ABCD programs in this environment, and reflects on the role of outsiders in ABCD in the light of underlying theory and this contemporary experience. This research draws largely on recent field interviews and personal experience working in this sector within Myanmar, as well as surveying a number of evaluation reports which have been made publically available.

Better-practice approaches for culture-based fisheries development in Asia

"Culture based fisheries are an effective way of increasing supplies of fish in rural areas. Farmers with relatively little experience in fish culture can productively engage, manage and benefit from culture based fisheries around lakes and reservoirs. This manual will provide guidance to development workers and program planners for integrating community based fisheries into rural development plans"--ACIAR website.

Community development and ecology : exploring the links

This paper will explore connections between the concepts of community development and ecology. Initially the tendency was to think there should be a total melding of the principles and practices of community development with those of an ecological understanding but on reflection this has not and indeed is not necessarily the case. The relative epistemological positioning of two different groups, one strongly associating with social justice and the need for people to be at the centre of our economic, environmental and social understanding; and the other clearly seeing the plant and ecology/environment being paramount. While there are a myriad of connections the focus of much community development has been around human welfare based on principles of social, political and economic justice. This has at times been to the detriment of ecological sustainability. Conversely ecology and particularly aspects of deep ecology have focussed on the 'other than human' aspects of the planet and at times seemed almost 'anti 'human and overlooking the need to work with the social almost entirely. This paper briefly outlines the historical separation of the social from the ecological then goes on to explore alternative understandings that bring together principles of community development and ecology. Three examples are used to highlight the principles and practices that are being used across diverse contexts but all informed by common norms and values that are consistent with both community development and ecology. Concepts such as subsidiarity, participation and empowerment that form the basis of community development praxis are critical to the development of local sustainability. The combination of these aspects is evidenced in the three examples. Each is very clearly located in the local context and is built on sound ecological and community development understandings but each is also well aware that the need for a broader perspective is imperative to achieving global goals.

Community development and enterprise culture : prospects and dilemmas

Community Development as a form of practice promotes empowerment and social justice. Its origins lie in people's collective struggle to be heard, recognised and accorded full citizenship in society. It has developed strategies to achieve social change that challenge dominant ways of thinking, policy and resource allocation in society. 'Enterprise culture has its origins in the individualism and competitiveness of capitalism. These essentially neo-liberalist concepts have been remoulded into a radical political program of change sponsored by the state under the guise of new managerialism, competitive tendering and privatization. This research seeks to examine the interface between community development and enterprise culture as a potential site of tension and contestation through an analysis of discourse. The initial task, therefore, was to elaborate the concept of enterprise culture and examine the ways enterprise culture has been manifested in community development. The focus has been on practitioners committed to community development through a qualitative, empirical approach with a view to discerning their views on the relevance and impact of enterprise culture on their work. Community development provides a useful domain for interrogating the infiltration of the concept of the enterprise culture because of its history of opposition and mobilisation. The research seeks to understand the ways in which the forms of enterprise culture as an essentially cultural project are manifested in practice contexts and to analyse the nature of the response to its various manifestations. As a result, it constitutes more than just a critique of any one of these forms, eg, privatisation, tendering out, managerialism, and instead seeks to investigate the degree to which a cultural shift may be occurring towards notions of greater individualism and away from collective notions of responsibility, obligation and citizenship. The research critically analyses the impact of enterprise culture on Australian social policy through the case study of community development practice. The manifestations of enterprise culture are investigated at various levels, with an emphasis on the responses of practitioners. A related aim is to reveal the range of possible responses to the infiltration of the enterprise culture in terms of values, language and practice into community development. Are new forms of practice emerging or is the field being steadily co-opted by government social and educational policy? Finally, the research should enable some future directions to be identified for the field of community development. The findings represent an initial attempt in an Australian context to establish the degree of influence that enterprise culture has had and/or will have on social policy. Chapter 1 examines the concept of enterprise culture and a background to its impact on community development as a domain of practice. The meaning of enterprise culture and its origins will be examined in Chapter 2. Its influence on Australian social policy is then discussed with particular reference to recent changes in Victoria regarding family services. In Chapter 3, the main features of critical discourse analysis are outlined as a framework for subsequent analysis of the links between discourse and hegemony. The work of Fairclough (1992, 1995) is utilised to highlight the relevance of discourse analysis to an examination of the infiltration of ideas associated with enterprise culture into the domain of community development. Chapter 4 provides an overview of the origins and defining characteristics of community development practice. The diverse beginnings and philosophical underpinnings are discussed and the main features of community development outlined in order to establish meanings attached to key concepts such as empowerment and participation. In Chapter 5, the findings of initial interviews with sixteen community development practitioners are discussed in terms of their perceptions of the impact of enterprise culture on their practice and the organisational culture within which they operate. These initial interviews were conducted in November-December 1996. A primary focus of the interviews was to establish the key words in their lexicon of practice and to provide an opportunity for reflection on the relative influence of discourse and practices associated with enterprise culture. A framework for analysing and making sense of the forms of response to enterprise culture is applied to the responses. Four forms of possible response are proposed and discussed in the context of the data. Follow up interviews were conducted in November-December 1997 and the findings of these interviews are discussed in Chapter 6. A particular emphasis in these interviews was on any changes in the lexicon of practice and indications of a change in the impact of discourse and practices associated with enterprise culture. The forms of response suggested in the framework outlined in Chapter 5 are discussed in the light of any movement in the responses of participants in the study. The implications of the findings are discussed in the context of the framework of responses or forms of embrace of enterprise culture analysed in earlier chapters. Finally, in Chapter 7, the potential for community development as a form of practice to transcend or at least accommodate the impact of enterprise culture through strategic forms of embrace is discussed and possible strategies based on the research that may assist in the development of this response are proposed.

Understanding pentecostal motivations for undertaking community development in South East Asia : evidence of an expanded understanding of holistic mission

A shift has been observed in the activities of by Western-based, pentecostal mission organisations in mainland South East Asia. Where once these mission organisations avoided formal community development programs as a distraction to their understanding of mission, the funding for and implementation of such programs has increased dramatically in recent times. This shift in focus is best understood by considering motivations and changing pentecostal perceptions of mission. The research is based on new primary data collected through interviews with long-term and senior pentecostal mission practitioners engaging in development projects in mainland South East Asia. It explores their motivations for engaging in community development, and in particular the extent to which community development programs are seen as a strategy for proselytisation as compared the extent to which they are conducted out of other humanitarian motivations. Analysis of this data challenges preconceived notions of proselytisation being the primary motive of pentecostal mission agencies, and demonstrates a more holistic idea of mission.

Towards unsettling community development

Community development was born out of a commitment to practising ways of empowering people to take collective control of their own lives. It requires profound changes in the ways in which societies are organized, and has held out the promise of heroic change. Although community development practitioners have been able to secure spaces for community development processes and policies, overall the successes of community development have been uneven and often quite modest. Indeed, the story of community development so far is one of the considerable unfinished businesses. Drawing on two research projects, this paper considers whether third-sector organizations, which are the main sites within which community development practice takes place, generate and nurture the types of active citizenship that are appropriate to community development activities. The paper develops a typology of active citizenship and considers manifestations of the types in seven countries. The applicability of the types to community development is dependent upon what form of community development is being considered. The paper argues that we need more than a settled form of community development based around social maintenance and defensive active citizenship. An unsettled and edgy community development is also needed that requires critical, proactive, visionary, cosmopolitan and active citizens who are prepared to challenge the existing power relations.

Tensions and dilemmas in community development: new discourses, new Trojans?

This paper begins by noting the range of contradictions and dilemmas facing those involved in community development today. It then draws on research into the operating frameworks that set the stage for much current community development activity. It discusses four key operating frameworks and how each framework can affect community development practice. The final section deals with the ways in which the frameworks, and the discourses associated with them, come together.

Community development orthodoxies

Drawing on recent research and reflections upon the role of community development in the twenty-first century, and discussion that have taken place in this Conference, this paper will examine constructions of community development and consider some of its key orthodoxies. Central to ideas of orthodoxy in community development is a conception of 'pure' community development. However, does the notion of 'pure' community development have practical and political value? If so, where are the boundaries? In answering these questions, this paper will explore elements of contemporary wisdom in community development, such as commitment to social change, participation, empowerment, capacity building, localism and the moral superiority of the oppressed.

Measuring wellness through interdisciplinary community development: linking the physical, economic and social environment

The aim of this study is to answer the question: Is there evidence that the quality of life of residents in a community that has had community development intervention is different as compared to the quality of life of residents in a nearby community that did not have community development initiatives? This was done by administering community development initiatives in a local area and comparing it to a similar community that did not receive this intervention. The residents of these communities rated the quality of their lives and communities in two purposively selected suburbs in Perth, Western Australia using the Australian Unity Wellbeing Index to measure individual and neighbourhood well-being. The quality of life of residents in both communities is then compared to national averages for quality of life or well-being. Answering this question provides empirical evidence of variation between ratings of quality of life of residents in different communities and highlights the utility of the Wellbeing Index for the evaluation of interdisciplinary community development