Don't work for the World Bank!

Christmas, in terms of gifts anyway, makes me think of lists.  So here's a quick post in the form of a list I read recently.  Participatory change agents are essentially outsiders, probably professionals, who want to be agents of change in poor communities. As our posts from this year suggest, doing this kind of thing well is difficult and requires deeply self-critical stance and a good understanding of power/knowledge structures.  Bill Cooke (2004) thinks these 7 things are essential.

Rules of thumb for participatory change agents:

1.       Don’t work for the world bank

2.       Remember: co-optation, co-optation, co-optation

3.       Data belong to those from whom they were taken

4.       Work only in languages you understand as well as your first

5.       Always work for local rates, or for free

6.       Have it done to yourself

7.       Historicize theory and practice

Cooke insists these are in no particular order.  I'm skeptical.

Jordan (slogging through the last of his papers for term 1, in Manchester)

Reference:

Cooke, Bill (2004) “Rules of thumb for participatory change agents”, in Participation: from tyranny to transformation? Exploring new approaches to participation in development, Hickey, S. and Mohan, G. (eds.) , Zed, London.