Challenging Global Inequality

Development theory and practice in the 21st century

by Alastair Greig, David Hulme, and Mark Turner

Chapter by chapter resources - Chapter 10

Review Questions

  • What were the political consequences of colonialism for subjugated countries?
  • What are some of the factors that need to be taken into consideration when analysing the differences in colonial encounters?
  • Which social groups tended to dominate political participation before, during and after colonization?
  • Did decolonization represent the removal of political inequality between nations?
  • According to modernization theorists, what was the relationship between capitalism and democracy?
  • What reasons have been advanced that explain the rise of the military in political life within post-independence nations after the Second World War?
  • Has the ‘third wave’ of democratization empowered people in the poorer countries?
  • What features should be present in a healthy democracy?
  • What roles should civil society organizations perform in a democracy or in a process of democratization?
  • What actions can be taken to ‘deepen’ democracy?
  • When might a democracy be said to be ‘consolidated’?
  • What advantages does decentralization hold?
  • To what extent can decentralization alleviate poverty and overcome inequalities?
  • What advantages did development practitioners see in community development and cooperatives?
  • Has participative development help overcome power differentials within poorer countries?
  • Do NGOs possess any unique advantages as deliverers of services and agents of democratization?
  • What does the concept of ‘governance’ add to our understanding of democratization and development?
  • Why do the poor often find it difficult to participate in programmes and projects?

Further Reading

Freire, P. (1972), Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Harmondsworth, Penguin

Huntington , S. (1991), The Third Wave: Democratization in the Late Twentieth Century. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.

Kiernan, V. (1972), The Lords of Human Kind: European Attitudes to the Outside World in the Imperial Age, Harmondsworth, Penguin.

Lipton, M. and J. van der Gaag eds (1993), Including the poor : proceedings of a symposium organized by the World Bank and the International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington DC, World Bank Regional and Sectoral Studies

Lipton, M. (1977), Why Poor People Stay Poor, Temple Smith, London

Migdal, J. (1988) Strong Societies and Weak States: State-Society Relations and State Capabilities in the Third World,Princeton, Princeton University Press.

Nkrumah, K. (1965), Neo-colonialism: The Last Stage of Imperialism, London, Thomas Nelson.

Smillie, I. (1995), The Alms Bazaar: Altruism Under Fire: Non-Profit Organizations and International Development, IDRC /ITDG Publishing

Websites

The Development Gateway maintains a governance webpage:http://topics.developmentgateway.org/governance

This chapter from an FAO publication Marketing Research and Information Systems provides a good description of Rapid Rural Appraisal:http://www.fao.org/docrep/W3241E/w3241e09.htm

This chapter from the FAO publication, Improving Agricultural Extension, explains Participatory Rural Appraisal:http://www.fao.org/docrep/W5830E/w5830e08.htm

The Ecumenical Program on Central America and the Caribbean provides some insight into the philosophy behind Christian base Communities:http://www.epica.org/index.htm

The Global Policy Forum has a webpage devoted to non-government organizations:http://www.globalpolicy.org/ngos/index.htm

The Centre for the Study of Global Governance, based at the London School of Economics, contains useful information on non-government organizations as well as governance and globalization issues:http://www.lse.ac.uk/Depts/global/index.htm