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"Teach a Man to Fish": The Sustainability Doctrine and Its Social Consequences

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  • Swidler, Ann
  • Watkins, Susan Cotts

Abstract

Summary This paper analyzes the social consequences of the commitment to "sustainability" in donor-funded AIDS programs. Using survey, interview, and ethnographic data from rural Malawi, we examine how efforts to mobilize and empower local communities affect three strata of Malawian society: the villagers whom these programs are meant to help, the insecure local elites whose efforts directly link programs to their intended beneficiaries, and, more briefly, national elites who implement AIDS policies and programs. We describe indirect effects of sustainability on the experiences, identities, and aspirations of Malawians--effects that are much broader and deeper than the direct impacts of funding.

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  • Swidler, Ann & Watkins, Susan Cotts, 2009. ""Teach a Man to Fish": The Sustainability Doctrine and Its Social Consequences," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(7), pages 1182-1196, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:37:y:2009:i:7:p:1182-1196
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    7. Vijayakumar, Gowri, 2018. "Collective demands and secret codes: The multiple uses of “community” in “community mobilization”," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 173-182.

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