International Development Practitioners Research Articles

A Justice-Oriented Conceptual and Analytical Framework for Decolonising and Desecularising the Field of Educational Technology

Education systems globally are increasingly being shaped by the logics, assumptions and pedagogical underpinnings of educational technology (EdTech) products, services, programmes, policies, and systems. These often promote rationalistic, secular, universal, objectivist, (post)modernist, written, behaviourist, and individualistic ways of being, marginalising religious, spiritual, oral, subjective, critical, and communitarian ways of being. Given that technological ways of being have been propagated globally, these logics are no longer predominantly promoted by those in the Global North, but by techno-solutionists globally, although the core-to-periphery flows of ideology and funding are still prominent. This article develops a conceptual and analytical framework for decolonising and desecularising the field of EdTech. Concepts are drawn from various discourses: the desecularisation of knowledge to set the ontological framing; embodied cognition to set the epistemological framing; and social justice and decolonial discourses to set the axiological framing. From this, the article develops the Dimensions of Human Injustice Analytical Framework—covering material, ontological and epistemic, and (geo)political injustices—to assist policymakers, educators, EdTech developers, and international development practitioners in identifying and confronting coloniality in their EdTech. Acknowledging the complexity and contentions within decolonial thought, this article does not claim a unified stance on achieving justice but aims to offer a tool for deconstructing and questioning injustices.

Not a care in the world: an exploration of the personal–professional–political nexus of international development practitioners working in security and justice sector reform

ABSTRACT This article explores the implications for international development policy and practice (specifically within security and justice sector reform) of the departure of those assuming caring roles, predominantly women who become mothers. More broadly, the article investigates how personal life stories impact the choices that we make in our professional lives, including where, when, and how we engage, in this instance, in international development, and the subsequent implications for the field. These choices (the personal) have an impact on policy and practice (the professional) and inform how knowledge is created, circulated, legitimized, and becomes expert knowledge (the political). This article thus explores the implications of an epistemic community being predominantly male (in part as a consequence of the lack of support for social reproductive work) for how security and justice in post-conflict environments are conceived and, ultimately, rebuilt. We reflect on our own engagement in such environments – as scholars and former practitioners – and draw on the life stories of international development practitioners to investigate the personal–professional–political nexus and the impact of narrow epistemic communities on how “security work” is done, whose security matters, and whose voices count.

Food systems resilience through dialogue: Localizing a food systems approach in pandemic response

Community and international development practitioners are increasingly adopting a food systems approach to research, planning, and intervention. This paper examines such an approach as part of the COVID-19 response of the Food Systems Dialogues (FSDs), a global effort facilitating multistakeholder interchange to build support for food systems transformations. The FSDs’ pandemic response involved redesigning the in-person global dialogue process for online delivery in localized settings. This paper documents how the online FSDs in New York’s Hudson Valley allowed local systems actors to share their experience mid-shock, as the system responded to the pandemic, and revealed FSDs’ ability to quickly adopt a systems orientation and thus take the first steps toward transforming food systems. It also highlights where new research is needed in food systems approaches to development.

Ethics and Identity among International Development Practitioners

People generally work in the fuzzy areas in which values fostered by different entities do not always match, which sometimes cause dilemmas and create alternative values. This study examines professional ethics and identity at work, by specifically exploring the experiences of Japanese international development practitioners who work in such a grey area. These practitioners work in projects that theoretically aim to support the development of less-developed countries, while on a practical level they must also serve the Japanese side. The individual ethics, which are developed when challenged by alternative ethics from the outside world, are deeply embedded in their professional identities. By Looking at the ways in which their work ethics are fostered and related to their professional identities, the study reveals that each professional fosters his/her own ethical identity. This study expands our understanding of the formation and emergence of professional identity.

The contribution of research for development to the sustainable development goals: lessons from fisheries research in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Island countries

ABSTRACTDrawing from research evaluation of the Fisheries Program of the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Centre (ACIAR) in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Island Countries, this paper explores the link between Research for Development (R4D) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Specifically, it seeks to understand how Research Capacity Development (RCD) in fisheries, in the specific contexts of international development partnerships, may contribute to SDG 1 (no poverty), 2 (zero hunger), and 3 (good health and wellbeing). A high-level multi-path, RCD-to-impact approach is employed to assess the outcomes of the R4D program of the ACIAR Fisheries Program at the individual, organisational and systems levels. Both primary and secondary data were collected through document analysis, interviews, surveys, and case studies. The case studies illustrate that RCD in fisheries in partner countries can contributes to the SDGs in participating communities. The paper advances research on the link between R4D and the SDGs and proposes a high-level framework to assist researchers and international development practitioners in assessing the impacts of investing in RCD.

Complementarity and substitution between physical and virtual travel for instrumental information sharing in remote rural regions: A social network approach

International development practitioners are highly optimistic that mobile phones can improve the lives of the inhabitants of remote rural areas in developing countries with an underdeveloped transportation infrastructure. However, the instrumental role of telecommunication is unclear in contexts where residents’ information-sharing networks are strongly geographically constrained by their limited mobility. Empirical research on the interactions between telecommunication and travel in rural areas of developing countries is lacking.This study analyses physical and virtual contact patterns within 1270 instrumental information-sharing relationships reported by the inhabitants of the Pulau Panggung and Sumber Rejo rural subdistricts of Indonesia. In 2013, we implemented an exogenous mobility intervention. In 2014, we administered a network survey in 16 randomly selected farming groups to map local residents’ egocentric and sociocentric physical and virtual travel networks.By comparing the observed networks with simulated random networks, analysing the relationship characteristics and their history, and performing a regression analysis with fixed effects, we examine the complementarity and substitution between telecommunication and travel in the creation and maintenance of social networks. By examining the effects of the exogenous intervention, we can explain the mechanisms underlying the uncovered associations.The results suggest path dependency between physical and virtual travel in remote rural areas. The implication for transportation policy is that physical mobility is a precondition for the creation of virtual information-sharing links. Instrumental communication relationships that do not socially require regular physical co-presence can be partially substituted by virtual travel only after virtual links have been created through physical mobility. Therefore, in contrast with general expectations, mobile telephony in remote rural regions is more practical if the transportation infrastructure is adequately developed. The paper concludes with a discussion of the potential contribution of the sociocentric network perspective to transportation research.

Conceptualising the Migration–Food Security Nexus: Lessons from Nepal and Vanuatu

ABSTRACTIn the past decade, international development practitioners have increasingly argued that migration improves the food security of households at origin, by providing the capital necessary for agricultural intensification or food purchase. These debates have occurred largely in isolation from a discussion of the values that underpin food production and consumption in the communities that migrants call home. We question the assumption that a shift from an agricultural-based economy to an economy based on remittances increases the ability of communities to secure access to food in the face of rapid economic and cultural change. In this paper, we present two independently conducted studies from Nepal and Vanuatu that investigate the impact of out-migration on local perceptions of agricultural and residential land and the meaning given to food security. Our data reveal that the value changes associated with large-scale out-migration have the potential to make the agricultural sector at origin more vulnerable, unproductive, unsustainable or unattractive, leaving a longer-term impact on food security. We offer some reflections on the implications of these findings for the structure of the migration–food security nexus.

Zink, Eren. 2013. Hot Science, High Water: Assembling Nature, Society and Environmental Policy in Contemporary Vietnam. Copenhagen: NIAS Press.

Zink, Eren. 2013. <i>Hot Science, High Water: Assembling Nature, Society and Environmental Policy in Contemporary Vietnam.</i> Copenhagen: NIAS Press.

Should I stay or should I go? Incorporating a commitment to fieldwork throughout an academic career

In this paper, four researchers who share a commitment to applied research and fieldwork methodologies reflect on the ambiguities associated with maintaining and adapting this commitment to changing professional, personal, and contextual situations. The authors focus on the use of fieldwork for the study and support of agricultural change in sub-Saharan Africa, as an example of a setting and topic in which long-term work in the field can improve understanding and support contextualized development. In analyzing a range of experiences associated with maintaining and adapting fieldwork approaches, we complicate and build upon the assertion that professional development pulls international development practitioners and applied researchers away from the field. The experiences analyzed in this paper suggest that the situation of changing orientations toward the field is not dichotomous, and that instead, a commitment to fieldwork can result in innovative approaches to remaining at least partially focused ‘outward’ and ‘downward.’ We argue that the epistemological underpinning of situated fieldwork, which recognizes partiality in knowledge and understanding, also requires reflexivity on the part of applied researchers. The reflections and analysis presented here broaden and ground conversations about research ethics, methodological consistencies, and innovative approaches to fieldwork.

Beyond participation: making enterprise development really work for women

Oxfam has been involved in sustainable livelihoods and enterprise development since the 1960s, gaining practical experience in setting up businesses that deliver social as well as economic development. Since we believe that gender inequality is one of the greatest barriers to poverty eradication worldwide, over the last three years we have been piloting an innovative Enterprise Development Programme (EDP) – a unique initiative that uses a business approach to create wealth, and deliver economic growth, while increasing women's power in markets and wider society. This article outlines the reasons why Oxfam is encouraging this type of investment in rural Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), the importance of promoting the role of women in enterprise development, and some of the successes and challenges faced by the EDP so far. We hope that the lessons that we have learned will help and inspire other international development practitioners to support and invest in SMEs that work for women.

Trivializing sustainability: Environmental governance and rhetorical free‐riders in the Brazilian Amazon

AbstractInterventions focused on sustainability at a local level tend to employ practices according to criteria that are widely accepted in the international development community. These practices constitute an informal “handbook,” establishing general rules for sustainable development to be applied to any situation. In response, local communities endeavor to formally meet these procedural criteria regardless of whether or not the desired end — sustainable development — can be achieved through them. The aim of this study is to demonstrate how the factors that are regarded as necessary for good governance affected the implementation of Agenda 21 programs in three Amazonian municipalities in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil. We find that, contrary to expectations among international development practitioners, preoccupation with a formal adherence to good governance criteria is associated with the opening of a gap between the discourse of sustainable development and the actual results of the Agenda 21 processes. This paper stresses the need to avoid overtaking the rationale of ends by the discourse concerning means.

Indigenous culture: both malleable and valuable

PurposeThe entry into tourism markets by international development practitioners aligns goals of economic development and cultural preservation in indigenous communities. The purpose of this paper is to look into ways that community‐level participation can simultaneously contribute to both economic and cultural sustainability.Design/methodology/approachIt takes a qualitative interdisciplinary approach to the literature on cultural tourism and commodification to develop a discussion of the implication and the application of interrelated policy measures since the early 1990s. Analysis then proposes a set of key variables challenging the capacity of both policy makers and marginal indigenous entrepreneurs to achieve potential benefits.FindingsIdeological tensions arise with the effort to balance the preservation of cultural integrity with the selling of marketable wares. The ongoing issues of market realities, political will, and tourism demographics create new questions that require further interdisciplinary research to develop an understanding that supports the long‐term sustainability of indigenous communities. A community‐based approach has potential to be very effective in negotiating the balance and undeniable trade‐offs between economic reward and cultural preservation.Practical implicationsSocio‐economic statistical data does not always exist for marginalized indigenous/ethnic minority communities that are not recognized by their own governments. This makes comparative case research and future monitoring very difficult to achieve. Also, existing discourse is currently dominated by non‐indigenous voices and Western tourism motivations, which need amelioration to better support the community‐based approach.Originality/valueThis paper provides policy makers, practitioners, researchers and indigenous communities with a multidisciplinary perspective on areas requiring further consideration and research. The analysis of current discourse when undertaken across disciplines confirms that policy directives cannot be broadly generalized.

Beyond Inadvertent Ventriloquism: Caring Virtues for Anti‐paternalist Development Practice

I argue that the epistemological virtues of concrete thinking, self‐transparency, and narrative understanding developed by care ethicists can help international development practitioners combat their own temptations to engage in “unconscious unjustified paternalism” (UUP). I develop the concept of UUP—a type of paternalism in which one party unjustifiably substitutes her judgment for another's because of difficulty distinguishing her desires for the other from the other's good. I show that the temptation to UUP is endemic to development and that care ethics contains virtues for combating it. Key to my claim is a view of caregiving as a practice of negotiating conflict.

The relationship between intercultural effectiveness and perceived project team performance in the context of international development

Abstract Working effectively in the development context—humanitarian aid or capacity building as in any intercultural context requires specific skills and abilities such as special knowledge of human relationships as these projects bring people together from different cultures, mentalities, and backgrounds. The research examines the relationship between intercultural effectiveness and project team performance in the international development field based on the Canadian technical advisors and project team personnel that work overseas within international development projects. The sample consisted of 106 international development practitioners who completed a self-report survey assessing intercultural effectiveness based on the Multicultural Personality Questionnaire (MPQ) and project team performance based on the Group Development Questionnaire. The study examined how the level of intercultural effectiveness is affected by age, gender, education, and experience of each individual respondent based on MANOVA and t -test analysis. Correlation analysis confirmed the relationship between intercultural effectiveness and project team performance.

The changing face of ‘Drivers of Change’

AbstractIn 2001 the UK Government's Department for International Development (DFID) launched a new way of conducting political economy analysis, called ‘Drivers of Change’ (DoC). DoC is now well known amongst international development practitioners and professionals. This article provides an introduction to DoC, explaining what it is, where DoC analysis has taken place and which organisations have been involved. It also explores the history and background to DoC, outlines its effect on other bi and multi‐lateral donors and shows how the approach has evolved over the last 5 years. The final section of the article analyses some of the current limitations in the way DoC analysis is used by DFID and predicts how the approach may develop in the future. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

Missing pieces: an overview of the institutional puzzle

Institutional development has become a core component of international development programmes. Yet, institutional reforms have, to date, had a disappointing impact on poverty reduction in the South. The causality of the links between institutions and poverty reduction and how exactly the institutional environment and development outcomes affect each other is still unclear. A lack of analytical consensus has resulted in vague policy recommendations and a dearth of clear operational guidelines for international development practitioners. This article provides an overview of the main current institutional development debates and gaps in existing research, and identifies some key organisations working on institutional issues in the academic and practitioner spheres. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Post‐modern International De‐velopment: Intervelopment and Global Interbeing

Outlines a post‐modern approach to international and global development conceived during a visit to Ghana in the autumn of 1992. First offers a critique of modern development′s techno‐bureaucratic, unsustainable over‐consumption ethos and its accompanying practices of Western expert imperialism. With the conception of post‐modern de‐velopment, intervelopment, infuses the ailing sustainable development paradigm with an affirmative radical humanist and relationally interconnected manifesto. Envisages a new synthesis between sustainable development and the practice of intervelopment: global interbeing – a way of experiencing an emancipated, harmonious, economically equitable, and culturally diverse world. Discusses the impact of intervelopment and global interbeing on the life and work of organization and international development practitioners.