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Development and Participation: Whose Participation? A Critical Analysis of the UNDP’s Participatory Research Methods

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  • Juan Telleria

    (Universidad del País Vasco – Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea UPV/EHU)

Abstract

Participatory development became a new development orthodoxy during the early 1990s. However, many researchers have criticised that its implementation often fails to live up to its original transformative roots. This article analyses the participatory research methods promoted by the UNDP, its epistemological foundations and the knowledge–power dynamics within them. The inquiry finds that the local experts hired by the UNDP play a central role in articulating the top-down authority of the UNDP with the bottom-up legitimacy of the local perspectives. Rather than promoting ‘development by the people, for the people’, the UNDP promotes ‘development by the experts, for the people’.

Suggested Citation

  • Juan Telleria, 2021. "Development and Participation: Whose Participation? A Critical Analysis of the UNDP’s Participatory Research Methods," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 33(3), pages 459-481, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:eurjdr:v:33:y:2021:i:3:d:10.1057_s41287-020-00287-8
    DOI: 10.1057/s41287-020-00287-8
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    References listed on IDEAS

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