A British Approach to Colonial Development? Community Development Rhetoric in British Late Colonialism (1940s–1950s)

This article explores how postwar British development in Africa was generated, transferred, and applied in the context of a series of wider networks. It examines the methods, pathways, and limits of this transnational approach to development. In the immediate postwar period, Britain had an entrenched institutional and historic knowledge of colonial governance, as well as many highly skilled practitioners with specialist knowledge of individual colonial territories. However, Britain had to enact its colonial policy within a wider context of European reconstruction and increasing American international power, as well as a growing impetus from the colonies themselves for self-government and independence. This article explores how Britain enacted colonial development policies within this series of overlapping networks, and argues that this context often—but not always—created an effective framework for development, even though British interests were often at odds with those of the other metropolitan powers. The Organisation for European Economic Cooperation and the Anglo-American “special relationship” are highlighted as specific forums within which British colonial development policy could be enacted, performed, and challenged. The article also considers some of the ongoing legacies of this networked approach to colonial development at the end of the Second World War, especially the ways in which the voices of donor countries have been prioritized over those of aid recipients.

During the inter-war years, the Colonial Empire played a significant role in contributing tropical products to the United Kingdom. Besides supplying raw materials, the colonies also contribute to the food supply for the mother country's inhabitants. In 1925, the Imperial Economic Committee began promoting and inquiring the empire’s food product for consumption in the United Kingdom. Afterwards, the British government introduced the Colonial Development Act of 1929 to encourage tropical development in the Colonial Empire. However, the present study neglected the influence of that on Malayan economic activities. Thus, this article examines the implementation of the colonial development policy in promoting Malayan pineapples industry. This study used content analysis to construct the relationship between colonial policy and economic development in Malaya. This study provides historical evidence and data collected from the National Archives of the United Kingdom and Malaysia's National Archives. The findings showed that the imperial aid had supported Malaya in becoming a major supplier for canned pineapples in the British Empire. However, the colonial development policy led the colonial government in Malaya as the debtor to the imperial government. Keywords: British empire, colonial empire, economic history, global trade, neomercantilism, tropical fruits.

Community development projects are essential for improving the quality of life and fostering sustainable growth in a community. However, effective implementation and success of these projects heavily depend on active citizen participation. This research explores an assessment of citizens participation in community development project in Auchi. The objectives of the study are; identify some existing projects carried out through citizens participation, examine the strategies adopted in carryout the projects, Assess the impacts of the projects in the area, and identify some of the challenges faced by citizens in participating in community development projects. Research methodology, both primary and secondary sources of data were adopted .sample size .one hundred (100) respondents were examined with a structured questionnaire, but a total o f ninety seven (97) questionnaires was retrieved and find suitable for analysis. The study identifies key barriers such as lack of awareness, limited access to resources, socio-economic constraints, and inadequate support from local authorities, as the major hindrance to effective citizenships participation in community development .Conclusively, the researcher concludes that provision of incentive, interest in development, felt-need motive, participatory in decision making and so on are the motivating factors of citizens participation in community development. The study therefore recommends that citizens should always involve in decision-making process, and they should be educated about their roles. By addressing these barriers, the study seeks to contribute to more effective and sustainable community development practices.

This paper examines the resources mobilization and effective utilization for actualizing community development projects in Nigeria. Concepts of resource mobilization for community development project were discusses from different perspectives. Resource mobilization is just a means to the end, the end being the fulfillment of the organization’s vision. Resource mobilization is a team effort, and involves the institution’s commitment to resource mobilization; acceptance for the need to raise resources; and institutionalizing resource mobilization priorities, policies and budget allocation. Problems associated with resource mobilization for community development were discussed. The paper also examines programme implementation for community development projects which identified among others, finding able and willing local leaders, setting up committees and identifying organizations. The paper further discusses participation as one of the basis of community development projects because without participation from the concerns members work or project will not be fully conducted. Various aspect of participation was discussed which include, active participation and functional participation among others. The paper also looks into community development projects evaluation process which centrally discusses empowerment evaluation in which it gives members of community the ability to check and analyze how resources are being utilize for the projects intended for. Conclusion was drawn and way forward were suggested some among others are,

This study investigated about factors influencing women's involvement in community development projects within the framework of development initiatives targeting women. Specifically, it focused on water initiatives in the Mvomero District. The study utilized the cross-sectional design. The findings from probit regression analysis reveal significant insights, highlighting the influential role of various factors in shaping women's decisions to participate. Education level emerges as a significant determinant emphasizing the pivotal role of educational attainment in fostering women's involvement in community development endeavors. Additionally, marital status and family size demonstrate notable impacts, illustrating the complex relationship between familial responsibilities and women's engagement in such projects. Furthermore, income level and access to credit emerged as crucial determinants, underscoring the importance of financial resources in facilitating women's active participation. Moreover, media, awareness and government policies played pivotal roles in influencing women's decisions to engage in community development initiatives. The study emphasizes the necessity of targeted policy interventions aimed at women’s participation through enhancement of income-generating opportunities and awareness to foster inclusive development and growth, thereby contributing to the advancement of gender equality in community development efforts.

The focus of this paper is twofold: a) to show how the underlying tension between libertarian and paternalistic aspects of utilitarianism were expressed within the ranks of the Indian Civil Service, with specific reference to colonial famine policy; b) to consider the effects of aspects of colonial policy in relation to famine (specifically: free trade and famine relief, revenue and debt, famine victims and constructions of mortality, transportation and irrigation). Here, the relationship between scarcity and need in relation to social class is paramount.

This article introduces a themed section of the Community Development Journal that re-evaluates the British Community Development Project (CDP) of the 1970s, with particular reference to three local ‘radical’ CDPs. It sets the national Community Development Project in context, as an experimental programme of action-research in twelve ‘deprived’ areas, set up in response to the rediscovery of poverty in the late 1960s. It explains the rationale for revisiting the CDPs from the vantage point of the second decade of the twenty-first century, when the structural problems of neoliberal capitalism (especially deindustrialization and globalization), identified as emergent by the CDP teams in the 1970s, continue to impact on disadvantaged neighbourhoods in negative ways. While some commentators have criticized CDPs for focussing more on political analyses than community development practice, this article argues that the long-standing significance of CDPs lies in the way their issue-focussed research informed their radical practice in local neighbourhoods. The article introduces three following papers in the themed section, which illustrate this through case studies of local CDPs in Coventry, Newcastle and North Tyneside, largely based on research conducted during 2014–2016 as part of an Economic and Social Research Council-funded project, Imagine – connecting communities through research.

The study examined attitudes of women in community development associations towards participation in community development projects in Imo State, Nigeria. Data was obtained from 127 randomly selected respondents from the study area. Results showed that women have favourable attitude towards participating in community development association activities that are relevant to community development. It was found that age of respondents, occupation and population of members in association significantly influenced women's attitude towards participation in community development projects. Based on the findings of the study it is recommended that women should be encouraged by Government and Non-Governmental Organizations by assisting rural women in community development associations which embarking on development projects by providing counterpart funds to boost the women's efforts. In order to further make women to show more favourable attitude towards community development, they should be given positions of authority in the community and the local level which will give them the opportunity to mobilize other women for community development. Regular awareness campaign and membership canvassing should be embarked by women in other to make other women know the importance of belonging to community development associations. Keywords : attitude of women, community development associations Global Approaches to Extension Practice Vol. 3 (1) 2007: pp. 72-81

Development interventions are often targeted at alleviating community challenges and enhancing livelihood sustainability. However, most intervention efforts usually have short-lived impacts and the projects often degenerate into nothingness. However, community participation has been fingered as one major tool that can ensure the sustainability of community development projects. This study therefore examined the effects of community participation on the sustainability of Community and Social Development Project (CSDP) in Ibadan, ThreecommunitiesOyo State, Nigeria. Multistage sampling procedure was used to select respondentsThree communities each from the urban, peri-urban and rural areas where CSDP had completed projects werepurposively selected for the study. A total of 168 respondents were randomly selected in these communities.Quantitative data on respondents’ age, sex, marital status, household size, community and social characteristicswere collected using interview schedule. Data were analysed using frequency counts, percentages and mean, aswell as PPMC and Chi-square. The mean age of respondents was 52.8±14.0 years; most (69.6%) of therespondents were males..More than one third of the respondents had tertiary education (43.5%). More than half(53.0%) of the respondents spent 2-5 hours in community development, (56.6%) participated in the project,(52.4%) were indigenes and (55.4%) were community project management committee (CPMC) members. Themean number of years spent in the community was 17.7±15.2 years. The area in which respondents participatedmost was sharing of idea ( X =2.39). while (55.4%) had high level of participation and (66.1%) indicated that theprojects had high sustainability. Significant (p<0.05) relationships exist between project sustainability (r=0.415),age (r=0.281), number of years of formal education (r=0.154, number of hours spent in community (r=0.469)and level of community participation in CSDP. Chi-square shows that significant (p<0.05) associations existbetween sex (χ2=9.721), type of community participation (χ2=26.820), status in the community (χ2=41.985) andlevel of community participation. It was observed that males participated more in community development thanfemales. Also, technical sustainability of projects was found to be low. Therefore efforts should be made toencourage youths to participate in community development.

Hugh Edward Egerton (1855–1927) was a British barrister and colonial historian. After graduating from Corpus Christi College, Oxford in 1876 he was appointed private secretary to Edward Stanhope in 1885. His employer's promotion to Secretary of State for the Colonies in 1886 sparked a lifelong interest in colonial policy, which led to his becoming Professor of Colonial History at the University of Oxford in 1905. This volume, first published in 1897, contains Egerton's pioneering history of developments of British colonial policy. Focusing on colonial policy from 1457, Egerton explores the causes of changes in Britain's colonial policy, linking the importance of securing trade with the growth of systemic colonization and examining the rise and decline of laissez-aller attitudes in the mid nineteenth century. This volume was the first published historical survey of colonial policy, and continues to provides a comprehensive overview of developments in British colonial policy.

The study examines the relationship between social capital and women’s involvement in a community development project; assesses the relationship between rural women literacy level and social capital leverage, and determines the interaction effect of literacy level and social capital leverage on rural women involved in community development projects. This research was conducted in Southwestern Nigeria using a descriptive survey research design followed by qualitative methods for in-depth analysis. A multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select 720 rural women from randomly selected three states in Southwestern Nigeria. Moreover, we also conducted in-depth interviews with 12 women (6 each of literate and non-literate) who had indicated participation in community development projects and conducted a focus group discussion in each of the three selected states. The findings reveal that the most significant predictors of rural women involvement in community development are: participation in adult literacy programme; literacy level; strong interaction with people; membership of community development committees; participation in the decision making process and discussion of development issues with friends. Moreover, the number of literate women who made use of social capital to participate in community development is high. The study, therefore, concludes that the relationship between literacy and social capital is strong.

The case of the British colonial education 'lending' policy in Cyprus is very interesting, firstly, because Cyprus possessed cultural characteristics very different from those of almost all the other British colonies (African and Asian) and, secondly, because the colonial policy influenced to a great extent the post-colonial educational structures and practices in the island. This article will show that the British colonial education policy applied in Cyprus had the two main features of the colonial policy applied in almost all the other British colonies, namely, (a) it was an 'adapted education' policy and (b) it was very much dependent on the will of the governed people. There were, however, two essential differences: (a) the 'adapted education' policy was very elusive and took diverse forms, and (b) politics played a much more important role in Cyprus than in the other colonies in the formulation of this policy, both positively and negatively. The result was that the 'adapted education' policy explicit...

As a study in comparative colonialism, this research attempts to identify similarities and differences in the French and British models of colonial education in Sub-Saharan Africa. Differences in colonial policy were conditioned to some extent by settlement patterns, the role of missionaries and variations in local politics and economies, but also by the moral stances underlying colonial practice. By calling attention to some of the 'signposts' of British and French colonial education policy, this research attempts to contrast British and French ideas about morality and the colonial project in Africa.

This study examines the changing role of women in the agricultural economy of Okunland occasioned by the transition from the pre-colonial arrangement to colonisation. Opinions are divided in the literature on the gendered processes in relation to colonial agricultural economy in most of Africa. The first thinking is that women lost power and economic autonomy as a result of discriminatory colonial policies. The second thinking suggests that the residual role of women in the agricultural economy was a product of choice rather than a deliberate colonial policy. The third maintains that women were economically active and productive but were unable to claim the proceeds of their labour. In Okunland, while women were prominently involved in the agricultural economy in the pre-colonial period, they appeared to be relegated to playing a residual role during the colonial period, leading to disempowerment. The data for this study were generated using the primary and secondary sources. While the primary sources involved the use of interviews, the secondary method involved the use of archival and documented materials. The data were analysed using thematic descriptive analysis. The study finds that the residual role played by women in the agricultural economy of colonial Okunland could be attributed to British colonial economic policies which generally favoured the men.

The article examines the formation of the British Labour Party's colonial policy towards Africa. It traces how the early Radical Liberal critique of colonial rule gave way to the influence of Fabianism, which provided the guidelines to the Labour government's post‐war development measures. These sought to incorporate Africans into institutions which would simultaneously provide more productive labour and consolidate colonial rule. The development of the African colonies was believed to reside in restructuring the interface between the state and society. A challenge to the Party's Fabian‐inspired colonial policy emerged in the 1950s. In the midst of the ideological struggle between the party's left and right wings, arguments questioning the African colonies’ economic subordination to metropolitan interests briefly entered into policy debates.