Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Development's widely used Sustainable Livelihoods Framework (SLA)
(Carney, 1998; Department for International Development (DFID),
1999; Ellis, 2000). The importance attached to social capital as a key
asset for poor families will be discussed in more depth in Chapter 5.2.
In addition, a household's rights in acquiring assets will also be influ-
enced by a range of public and private sector structures and institu-
tional policies, processes and freedoms, such as the ability to
participate in community decision making or political mobilization.
Multilateral agencies such as the World Bank embraced livelihoods
perspectives in the 1990s, and they formed an integral part of
their Participatory Poverty Appraisals (PPAs). Rural Livelihood
approaches have also been modified for use in urban environments
(Rakodi, 2002).
Despite its practical merits in targeting areas for combating poverty,
the sustainable livelihoods approach has been criticized for failing to
recognize the social and cultural bases for living, such as the role
played by self-esteem, identity and aspiration in people's attitudes
to making a living. Other shortcomings include an overemphasis on
materiality and the propensity to perceive livelihoods as fixed and
static, rather than fluid and shifting over time (Rigg, 2007). Many
scholars now prefer to talk about livelihood 'transitions
'
while others
propose that livelihoods should be seen in 'relational
'
terms,
focusing
more on the power relationships and negotiations between household
members and different communities (Leach et al., 1999). As Rigg (2006)
asserts, the reality of rural livelihoods today may be somewhat differ-
ent from the traditional conceptions of rural living that have dominated
academic and policy discourses over the last fifty years. While
approaches may never be able fully to capture unpredictable events, he
argues that seeing livelihoods as 'pathways' allows for a more dynamic
understanding of the way they change over time (Whitehead, 2002).
Indeed, rural communities in many parts of the global South have been
increasingly separated from the land and traditional agricultural occu-
pations as a result of neoliberal global forces and the blurring of rural-
urban activities. Contemporary rural households are likely to engage in
'livelihood multiplicity
',
a diverse range of occupations and migration
strategies in order to ensure survival and well-being (Wright, 2003).
However, despite the gains made by participatory and livelihoods per-
spectives in poverty alleviation, the stark reality remains that many
rural women still have very low levels of assets which makes them
highly vulnerable to risk and uncertainty.
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