Development Studies Association Conference
Saturday, November 3, 2012, London
Call for papers for conference panel on ‘appreciative inquiry’ and participatory governance.
Dr. Richard J. Nunes, University of Reading, Real Estate and Planning ([log in to unmask])
Dr. Angelique Chettiparambil Rajan, University of Reading, Real Estate and Planning ([log in to unmask])
Participatory notions and approaches to project implementation, policy decision-making and governance in international development studies
and practice are widely reflected and debated - from the ‘tyranny’
critique of participation (cf. Cooke & Kothari 2001, Hickey & Mohan 2004) tosubsequent considerations of its changing forms and uneven terrain. New andinnovative participatory
strategies and multilevel governance arrangements are continuously emerging as the boundaries between bottom-up people-centred and top-down technocratic approaches are increasingly blurred, from project-based methodologies to scaled up approaches to national
and international policy-making.
The continuous need to engage with the issues of power and politics of participatory techniques, to avoid depoliticizing what is an
inherently political process, increases in complexity as these divisions between bottom-up and top-down approaches blur. These academic discussions over participatorytransformation are anchored to the following dilemma of international development practice.
Liberalization policies in many countries, including externally and self-imposed austerity measures, have weakened the ‘social contract’ of state government responsibilities to deliver problem-based solutions to community problems. A two-fold challenge lies
herein:
-
State and global financial institution-orchestrated decentralization processes have left community-based assets unsustainably stretched as communities
seize new opportunities for sustainable development, whilst campaigning to retain entitlements of state and global citizenship (Mathie & Cunningham 2003). The apparent
ethical and / or
value-laden implications of this dilemma echo long-standing development issues such
as technological advances and ‘uneven development’, poverty and corruption; and
-
The praxis of current [economic] crises and global issues such as climate change, and the new opportunities for rethinking development in the age
of scarcity and (natural) resource depletion becomes increasingly evident. Though, the manylong-standing issues associated with this condition often leave communities to be defined by their problems (e.g. malnutrition and poverty), irrespective of such debates
as those over what constitutes as ‘poor’, leaving them to internalize this negativity (Elliot 1999).
The panel organisers invite papers that bring these discussions to bear on the interwoven reflexive processes of ‘appreciative inquiry’,
action and evaluation in research, practice and pedagogy. Appreciative Inquiry (AI) is a ‘generative and therefore
transformational -- something quite different from the image of what has been perpetuated
of AI as action research with a positive question’ (Bushe 2007: 30, emphasis added; cf. also Bushe 2011). In other words, the positive orientation of AI does not deny the negative (what is wrong or lacking). Rather the quality of the appreciative process as
a reflexive one enables both the practitioner and participants ‘to (re)construct local knowledges and power relations, and so to act critically’ as part of ongoing interwoven processes of appreciative inquiry and ‘responsive evaluation’ (Stake 1975). A number
of related appreciative approaches in international development study and practice include the:
Sustainable Livelihoods
Model (Elliot 1999);
Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) (Chambers 1999);
Participatory Learning and Action (PLA; also interpreted as Participatory Reflection
and Action) (Pretty et al 1995); Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) (Mathie
& Cunningham 2003); and Participatory and Appreciative Action and Reflection (PAAR)
(Ghaye et al 2008).
Attention to the AI project continues to grow with the recent publication of widely accessible texts (Cooperrider & Whitney 2005, Whitney
& Trosten-Bloom 2010). However, it remains a relatively under-explored area of international development practice. It is a form of action research that can be applied to individuals, families, organisations and nations alike (Rogers & Fraser2003). It transcends
the prevailing problem-focus or ‘deficit mind-set’ (‘what’s wrong’) of community development practice to embrace the instruments of creativity and imagination (‘what’s good’), taking the latter forward to promote positive change and participatory transformation.
Practicalities of the conference panel
The presentation of papers at the panel will be held at the Annual Development Studies Association Conference in London, on Saturday,
3rd November 2012. Individuals from all relevant disciplines in the social sciences are welcome to submit paper abstracts for consideration. The panel organisers will encourage active involvement in the informal discussion of invited papers, with the aim to
explore appreciative approaches to research, practice and pedagogy of international development work.
Submission of abstracts
Please send an e-mail to Richard Nunes ([log in to unmask]) with
the following information:
- Title of paper
- An extended abstract of 500-750 words
- Contact details
- University affiliation and city from which you will be traveling
The call for papers will close on
Monday, 6th August, 2012. Individuals who have been accepted based on their abstracts will be asked to submit full papers and presentations by
Monday, October 22nd 2012. Selected papers will be submitted to a journal special issue.