Development practitioners’ emotions for resilience: sources of reflective and transformative practices

Abstract

Emotions are rarely discussed in development due to concerns about professionalism or rationalism in the sector. This research explores emotions that practitioners experience and the roles of emotions in their resilience by drawing on Bourdieu’s practice theory to conceptualise emotions as resources to be embraced rather than something to be managed and controlled. Interviews with 13 Korean non-government organisation workers showed that practitioners’ emotions were influenced by religion and social conditions, and their emotions influenced their development practices and relationships with self and others. The findings highlight that emotions can promote practitioners’ reflective and transformative practices, helping practitioners build resilience. Resilience has been described as a process of deconstructing and reconstructing conditions of existence and assumptions of self and practice. This research points to the need to develop a community of practice that connects and supports development practitioners to facilitate changes.