英语论文网

nguage of empowerment and cherry-picked methodologies that suited them, but ignored the underlying principles, resulting in many examples of pseudo-participation and disempowerment of the very people to whom such initiatives are meant to deliver a voice'.(p9)
Participation and knowledge and theory
Empowerment entails not only using existing knowledge but also opportunities for creation of new, alternative, and complementary knowledges. Participation helps the community of interest, through collective and shared fora, to identify resources from both within and outside the community, for which such awareness may not have previously existed, and to build new networks and strengthen existing ones. Additionally, participation allows community realise and better appreciate institutions that operate within and around it offering goods and services, and may promote access for community's benefits. Participation, in the absence of a better replacement offers greater control and ownership of both the process, content and the outcome of development.
Participation has progressively evolved to integrate methodological pluralism, rapid adaptive change, the analysis and expression of local people's priorities and democratic local diversities (Chambers, 1992 pg 52). Its applications of a variety of methods of data collection, analysis, project selection, prioritisation, and implementation is an indication of its rich traversal of the various theoretical terrains that address social change, including theories of social action, capability, empowerment and of group dynamics. Thus the missile of theoretical 'badness' fails to touch base when participation is placed within specific contexts that demand specific theoretical orientation.
Empowerment and Efficiency
Cleaver (1999), an erstwhile critic of participation and the attendant efficiency argument notes that there is inordinate emphasis on participation for efficiency reasons, rather than for democratic purposes. While there is some small-scale evidence to support the efficiency argument, the 'evidence for empowerment and democratization is often partial, tenuous and reliant on the rightness of the approach rather than on proof of outcomes' Rather than stressing on efficiency as participation has traditionally done in empowering communities, Guimaraes (2007) roots for equity and empowerment, focussing on structural changes that challenge existing power and inequality structures and provide spaces to the marginalized, rather than on the former that may merely entrench them.
However, contrary arguments in support of the value of participation posit otherwise.
Guimaraes (2000) in underscoring the significant and transformative role of participation in development, and within development communities themselves, observes that PRA, together 'with the approaches that it influenced, has been influential in contributing in many forms into the mainstream development practice'. He further urges that despite some imperfections of participation in Integrated Rural Development projects identified by the communities themselves in Philippines, on the whole,
'the consequences of participation included strong commitment to the process, increased ownership by the citizens and officials and the strengthening of the collaboration between government agencies and the NGOs.'(ibid, p13)
Gaventa (2004) asserts, in furthering the case for participation, that the comm