Power, relations and theories of change in

developmentRosalind Eyben

Navigating ComplexityMay 26-27 2008

Outline

• Introduction• Perception of the problem• Making explicit our theories • Building our ship while sailing it

Introduction

Question

How does change happen and how can development organisations support changes that enhance equity and social justice?

My approach• Personal, partial and political experience

in webs of relationships• How we theorise change shapes our

efforts at purposeful intervention.• These efforts may have unintended

consequences of sustaining or reinforcing inequitable relations of power and injustice.

Reflexivity and positionality

Perception of the problem

Development resource flows*

Donor country civil society &

INGOsDonor

government Multilateral agencies

Citizen

Local civil society Citizen

Recipient government

Foundations

Global funds

*Public and not for profit

Development is the burden of

Atlas….• Simplifies• De-contextualises• Dresses up the political

as technical• Linear planning• Leads to ever more

grandiose visions

Being explicit about our theories

Three inter-connected sets of theories

• Theories of society and societal change

• Substantialism and relationalism• Complexity

Theories of societal change in the Western intellectual tradition

• Aggregate actions of individuals• Technological progress• New beliefs and ideas• Purposive individual and collective action• Structural conflicts

Substantialism and relationalism

• Substantialism: viewing the world as separate autonomous entities

• Relationalism: entities are defined and shaped by their relations with others

Development aid from a substantialist perspective• Money• Technical assistance• Aid as catalyst • Aid architecture• Incentives • Mechanisms• Outcomes/results• Accountability between binary sets of actors• Aid Chains

And from a relational perspective

• Patterns of social relations, shaping and being shaped through the giving and receiving of money and people.

• Donors as well as recipients are changed by the aid relationship

• Systems • Processes• Emergent change• Solidarity• Clientelism/patrimonialism• Webs

Perceptions of power

Substantialist• Power as a resource• Identifies power-

holders• Mechanisms to tackle

power imbalances• Accountability as sets of

dyadic relations

Relational• Power is everywhere -

not a scarce resource• Multiple, inter-

connected and emergent relations

• Expanding the social limits of what is possible in webs of relations

Building the ship while sailing it?

Complexity approaches to development aid

– Disagreements on what are the problems- change through contestation;

– Uncertainties as to how improvements might be made – risk taking;

– Planned opportunism;– Working with paradoxes;– ‘Messy partnerships’ (Irene)

Saying ‘yes’ to mess?

The tough bit• Seeing ourselves as partial and in the system• Managing multiple accountabilities: MAD;• Investing in relationships rather than themes

means re-educating donors;• Going public about failure = decline in funds;• Strategic planning constrains spotting and

supporting local self-generated processes;• INGOs’ focus on growth constrains flexibility;• Bureaucratic organisations - a historical form

derived from substantialist thinking – good reasons why they are anti-relational.