Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
roles women need to play in further development and progressive change
in the global South. Prior to the 1970s, the prevailing wisdom was that
men were the unchallenged 'agents of change' - the entrepreneurial pio-
neers, modernity intellectuals, innovators and leaders.
It is beyond question that women
must
be included in today's
people-centred development projects if such projects are to succeed.
Furthermore, we now also know that 'outsiders' - whether men or
women - cannot bring about meaningful change to the lives of 'insid-
ers'. Rather, local community capacity building and the empowerment
of people to determine their own futures are the measures of outsiders'
successful participation and assistance in development from below ori-
ented approaches.
People-centred development has emerged as a widely held alterna-
tive notion among those development thinkers and practitioners who
are convinced that the neoclassical, economic models of capitalist devel-
opment imposed upon the global South by the North have not worked.
As an alternative development from below approach, people-centred
development and its capacity-building possibilities certainly have the
potential to bring about 'real-life development' for future generations.
This is because it promises inclusiveness, democratic participation and
peaceful consensus-building as means to a sustainable future for our
ecumene
: in other words, a 'sustainable development' we can live with.
80
key
points
•
The dependency school of activists represented an early, and highly
influential, 'voice from below' during early post-colonial times.
•
Development from below represents a humanistic alternative to
the failed top-down, development from above approaches that have
consistently been promoted by Western capitalism's development
establishment.
•
People-centred development combines development ethics and sus-
tainability in its advocacy to promote capacity building and com-
munity empowerment as progressive means for the poor to enjoy
the full range of human rights to which they are entitled as global
citizens.
•
It is beyond question that women
must
be included in today's
people-centred development projects if they are to succeed.
